Reply #2: Some thoughtful folks raised this

[ewagner]

Yoou wrote:

"And then I think about 9/11. No one ever asked the question: Why are these people so pissed off at us? Nooooooo, we took the victim role and became aggressors. Never did we search our conscience. Never. And we are not without blame. No one should do what they did on 9/11. But it didn't come about in a vacuum"

This is where the now famous RW phrase "blame America first" slogan came about. Anybody who said that we should explore in more depth "why do they hate us?" was treated to that phrase. Bush tried to answer the question with his famous "they hate freedom" speech; followed quickly by his ad-lib "...they(the terrorists) hate things and we love things..."

Having said that, I will also say that one of the greatest failures of the Bush Administration is not addressing this very question. Remember when they hired some hotshot Madison Avenue Ad Exec to write and produce new propaganda for the Islamic world? That was a feeble and cynical attempt. Bush even undermined his own publicity campaign with his arrogance before the United Nations and his "with us or against us..." speeches.


I completely understand that there are groups like Al Queda who cannot and will not be reasoned with. That there are groups who will understand nothing but violence and we have to deal with that. Until we are willing to address the sources of hatred, however, we will never be totally safe.