In 1776, a group of slaveowning men advanced the notion, without irony, that "All men are created equal."

From our origins as a very divided, very unequal country, we have advanced considerably. These advances were often a direct result of the barbarism, slaughter, bloodshed, and heroism of war.

In the Civil War, both sides felt that blacks were incapable of being soldiers. They were proven wrong by example, with stunning examples of bravery and solderiering.

In World War II, it was felt that all Japanese in the country would only have loyalty to "their" Emperor, and so they were locked up in internment camps. Except for the young men, who were drafted, of course. And who then went on to amass a stunning record with their battlefield performance and loyalty to the United States. And its certainly well known that the US Japanese were as loyal to the US as any other distinct group.

Also during Word War II, it was felt that blacks now were incapable of flying airplanes, particularly high-speed, demanding fighters. The well-known record of the "Tuskeegee Airmen" should be ample rebuttal.

Largely as a result of such heros, the Armed Forces were integrated shortly after the war.

In the last 30 years, we have found a surging tide of Islamic Fundamentalism, spread by the technology and culture that apparently, it abhors. The terrors used by these driven people are well known.

On April 19th, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in Oklahoma City disappeared in a blast and shock wave.

The initial reaction was that it "must have been" Arab terrorism. As we now know, it was the work of a US citizen of European extraction, with ties to fundamentalist Christian groups. The initial hatred and reaction toward people appearing to be Arabic was incorrect.

Now, with this recent tragedy, the same prejudices/presumtions are resurrected.
Arabs are no more from the same mold than "Europeans" or "Christians"
There are as many factions of Islam as there are of Christianity, and lest we forget the home-grown terrorists and fundamentalist fanatics.

There is not a difference between Islamic mullahs and well-known Christian commentators in this country pronouncing the "reason" for the bombing was the "lack of God" in this country.

And yet further is the diversity of religions in the region - people of the same skin tone who have histories of warring over the exact religious issue. Stories are spreading about Sikh's being attacked. Sikh's and Muslims have been warring before the United States was founded.

The best way to deal with these Islamic fundamentalist is to deny them what they want - changing our way of life for the worse.

The best way to win this "war", is to look past skin tone and religion even more than we have in the past, to the person beyond.