Neocons / War Party
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Why They Hate Us – Revisited
After 9/11, many Americans had no idea why there was so much anger and rage in the Middle East, especially against the United States. All their lives, Americans had been taught that foreign policy was for federal “experts” and, thus, they had chosen not to concern themselves with what their federal officials were doing to people abroad. Innocently believing that federal overseas personnel, including the CIA and the military, had been helping foreigners for decades, Americans had no reason to doubt the official U.S. pronouncement immediately after 9/11: “We are innocent. The terrorists hate us for our freedom and values. That’s why they have attacked us.”
What Americans didn’t realize is that federal officials were being disingenuous when they made that pronouncement. U.S. officials knew full-well that that their decades-old U.S. interventionist policies in the Middle East were at the bottom of the volcanic rage that people bore in that part of the world…..
What’s Behind Muslim Cartoon Outrage
Ingrid Mattson, professor of Islamic Studies at Hartford Seminary, said Muslims aren’t upset just because the Danish cartoons disregard their religious beliefs. “These are racist depictions,” she said. “They are along the lines of anti-Semitic depictions once seen in Europe. They are deliberately offensive and aimed at a minority which is already feeling marginalized.”…..
The Right to Be Offended
The right to offend must come with at least one consequent right and one subsequent responsibility. People must have the right to be offended, and those bold enough to knowingly cause offense should be bold enough to weather the consequences, so long as the aggrieved respond within the law. Muslims were in effect being vilified twice–once through the original cartoons and then again for having the gall to protest them. Such logic recalls the words of the late South African black nationalist Steve Biko: “Not only are whites kicking us; they are telling us how to react to being kicked.”…..
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