Quoting Chalmers Johnson

[Michael Baum]

David Monroe:
DM> Okay, my rare post on the events of the past week or two.  From Chalmers
DM> Johnson, "Blowback," The Nation (October 15, 2001) ...

DM> "The suicidal assassins of September 11, 2001, did not 'attack America,' 
as
DM> our political leaders and the news media like to maintain; they attacked
DM> American foreign policy.

Oh piffle. Not you of course, Mr. Monroe, but rather Mr. Johnson. Let
me see if I can summarize his argument.

1. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979.
2. Acting through conduits like the CIA, the United States helped arm
and fund Afghanistan guerillas to fight against the Soviet invasion.
3. The Soviet Union responded to the guerilla war by ruthlessly
bombing Afghanistan. Naturally, this came to be seen as the Americans'
fault.
4. After the defeat of the Soviet Union, the U.S. did not continue to
channel funds and supplies to the guerilla leaders. This was infamous.
5. Then we proceeded to billet our soldiers in a Holy Arab Land as
protection against Holy Arab Predators such as the Iraqi government.
This was _really_ infamous, because they are Westerners.
6. Therefore Mr. bin Laden -- is that the proper construction, or
should it be Mr. Laden? -- and others of like mind determined that
thousands of random Americans should die, and it's all because of the
CIA and American foreign policy.

As I said, piffle. Certainly the suicide bombers attacked American
foreign policy. They also attacked American domestic policy. They also
attacked the fact that we don't believe the Jewish people should be
driven into the sea. They also attacked the fact that we shamefully
let out wives and daughters go to school and hold jobs and let their
faces be seen in public.

They just don't like us. And they particularly don't like us because we're 
such a convenient symbol of the West. And they've been promised an
Eternity of Delight if they die killing us. This really isn't that 
mystifying. Though it _is_ interesting to watch the parade of left-wing and 
right-wing hacks line up to try to shift some of the blame onto their 
favorite targets. Mr. Johnson thinks the fiendish, amoral CIA is the 
culprit. Mr. Falwell thinks its the Pernicious Fags and Liberated Women -- 
which, as Barry would say, would be a _hell_ of a name for a rock band.

maab


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