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Few conspiracy theories are more pernicious than the one that holds that the American government orchestrated the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001. It's anniversary -- the date of this week's issue of The Jewish State -- tends to bring out not just the kooks, but those who wish this country harm.

Eight years after the attacks, the 9/11 Truthers, as they are called, haven't gone away, and neither have our Islamist enemies, who perpetrated the attacks.

For example, it was revealed recently that a Truther, the "green jobs" czar Van Jones, was working in a high-profile White House appointment, which once again brought the debate front and center. (Jones resigned before Labor Day.)

And the continued terrorist attacks in places such as Mumbai, and the recent release of the Libyan "Lockerbie" bomber, afford reminders that the Islamists have American and Jewish blood on their hands, and they're looking for more.

The Islamists and Truthers are also of one mind when it comes to the United States. They believe it's a fundamentally evil country, and that we brought 9/11 on ourselves. "The chickens are coming home to roost," as Jeremiah Wright put it.

This means it's not enough just to know that America is an exceptional force for good in the world; we should proclaim it. In that spirit, I'd like to use the words of Russell Kirk, one of the great thinkers of the 20th century. In 1957, Kirk published "The American Cause," a musing on, and defense of, the basic principles of the United States. In it, Kirk tackles "Radical Attacks on America" -- five main complaints by the enemies of democracy. He then answers them.

More than a half-century later, his responses still ring true.

The five attacks are that America is: materialistic, imperialistic, capitalistic, unjust, and decadent.

America is materialistic, Kirk responds, only in the sense that mankind has always strived for acquiring and spending, and that the American free market produces not individual wealth, but "the wealth of nations," leading to "public prosperity."

But to get a truer sense of America's priorities, Kirk writes, one must look at what we spend our riches on. When Kirk wrote the book, no nation on earth spent more on education per pupil than the U.S. No nation had more churchgoers, and today it's safe to say this country is one of the few left with an overwhelming dedication to spiritual pursuits.

We have a vast amount of museums, he wrote, and one of the highest rates of literacy in the world.

In terms of American imperialism, Kirk wrote something that is worth repeating today: America is the least imperialistic great nation in the history of the world. This is undeniably true today, as it was in the time of Kirk's writing. Unlike empires past, the U.S. has gone to war and come home with no more land. There is no American colony in Afghanistan or Iraq -- in fact, the U.S. has been criticized for too quickly attempting to help each nation institute its own self-government.

"Blood for oil" was debunked when oil prices continued to rise and we stood back as other countries' petroleum companies were awarded Iraqi oil projects. Kirk reminds readers that we didn't annex Mexico in 1846, though we took their capital; after our war with Spain in 1898, we didn't annex Cuba, where most of the fighting took place; we gave the Philippines independence after we freed them from Japan; and we took no part in the partition of Africa, though we could have.

Kirk agrees that America is "capitalistic," in that we believe in private property and private enterprise, and the freedom that comes along with. "It may also be emphasized," Kirk wrote, "that the American economy has been called a 'people's capitalism,' for ownership of property, including great industries, is very widely shared, and the profits go to the laborer as well as the owner and the manager."

If America is unjust, Kirk writes, it is only to the extent that perfect justice has never been established. However, Kirk adds, the "civil rights and the property rights of Americans are guaranteed by federal and state constitutions, by the courts, and by centuries of usage. It is improbable that a greater measure of justice ever prevailed in any nation."

Those who think America is decadent, Kirk writes, should look closer.

"No, America is not wholly the nation of Kinsey Report subjects, inane television [programs], and Hollywood addicts that so much anti-American propaganda describes," Kirk writes. "The inventiveness, the industry, and the confidence in the goodness of life which are the symptoms of private and social health remain vigorous among us."

"America is a great nation; and if she is not invariably guided by an exalted justice and benevolence, still surely she is playing her part among the nations with some courage and generosity," Kirk concludes.

Americans cherish diversity at home and abroad, he writes. American policy is dedicated to the defense of civilization wherever it is threatened.

"And if Americans have valor in them still," Kirk writes, "theirs will not be a losing cause."

Seth Mandel is the managing editor of The Jewish State.