Why Do They Hate Us?
FFF
You'll recall that immediately after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. officials declared that the attacks had been motivated by the terrorists' hatred for America's "freedom and values." That refrain produced the "war on terrorism" and, more recently, the "war on radical Islamo-fascism." [db:updated by Bush today - now known as "Islamic Fascism"]
Nonsense, said libertarians. The anger and hatred that Arabs and Muslims have for the United States is rooted in decades of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Ending the U.S. government's decades-old policy of empire and intervention would bring an end to the threat of terrorism (and radical Islamo-fascism) against the United States.
The argument of the "freedom and values" crowd boils down to this: "the decades of U.S. supplying of advanced weaponry and foreign aid to the Israeli government, which is now being used to kill people in Lebanon, and the U.S. government's obeisance and submissiveness to the Israeli government, have had no adverse effect on how Arabs and Muslims feel about the United States. Their anger and hatred is caused by America's freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and rock and roll."
Therefore, the argument goes, the chants od "Death to Israel. Death to America" from hundreds of thousands of Shiites marching in Baghdad last week had nothing to do with U.S. foreign policy but were motivated instead by hatred for American principles and lifestyles. Read more
You'll recall that immediately after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. officials declared that the attacks had been motivated by the terrorists' hatred for America's "freedom and values." That refrain produced the "war on terrorism" and, more recently, the "war on radical Islamo-fascism." [db:updated by Bush today - now known as "Islamic Fascism"]
Nonsense, said libertarians. The anger and hatred that Arabs and Muslims have for the United States is rooted in decades of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Ending the U.S. government's decades-old policy of empire and intervention would bring an end to the threat of terrorism (and radical Islamo-fascism) against the United States.
The argument of the "freedom and values" crowd boils down to this: "the decades of U.S. supplying of advanced weaponry and foreign aid to the Israeli government, which is now being used to kill people in Lebanon, and the U.S. government's obeisance and submissiveness to the Israeli government, have had no adverse effect on how Arabs and Muslims feel about the United States. Their anger and hatred is caused by America's freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and rock and roll."
Therefore, the argument goes, the chants od "Death to Israel. Death to America" from hundreds of thousands of Shiites marching in Baghdad last week had nothing to do with U.S. foreign policy but were motivated instead by hatred for American principles and lifestyles. Read more
posted by exoplanet at 8:37 PM
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