LeftExchange
So, WHY do they hate us? by
The above question which I have seen and heard on numerous occasions since the tragedy on Sept. 11 can and should be answered but the answer will for many people in US be very difficult to understand without a great willingness to look beyond what their corporate-sponsored political leaders and mainstream media, obsessed with investment schemes, shares and celebreties´ sexlife, feed them.
The people behind the attacks on WTC and Pentagon certainly hated, if not all Americans, at least the America that the targets stood and stands for. The WTC, the symbol of American corporate and commercial power, and Pentagon, the symbol of American military might, are very obvious symbols of the reason for and the means by which USA dominates the world to the detriment and often suffering of other people. The attacks were NOT on “freedom and democracy”. They were manifestations of hate for a mighty power that in its self interest has prevented that “freedom and democracy” for many people, and all over the world promoted a lifestyle dedicated to the worshipping of mammon. The people who gave their lives for their cause on Sept. 11 were surely religious fanatics but they were not born fanatic. They turned into it. Why?
What have surfaced so far seems to point to some of the perpetrators as being mideastern men of high intelligence and good education from middle class homes. Maybe they had developed a misdirected and perverted sense of justice when seeing what happened in the Arab world because of oil and the almighty dollar. Maybe they saw one too many Palestinian home demolished by a US supplied Apache helicopter gunship handled by its Israeli crew. Maybe they heard of the hundreds of thousand Iraqi children wasting away into oblivion as a result of US/UK sanctions on Iraq. Or perhaps they just got fed up with the excesses of the US favored Saudi Arabian princes or were affronted by hearing about US servicemen watching pornography in Dahran while waiting for the next sortie for Baghdad. Maybe all of it, we don´t know.
We should know one thing however; if we don´t try to eliminate the reasons that have the potential to turn people into suicidal fanatics there will always be new ones, and without turning the world into police states we will never be able to wholly guard against them. Some might say that changing US policy is to appease the terrorists and if the policy would have been fair and just I would agree. When it is not fair and just, however, to change it in that direction is to correct grave wrongs which most US people don´t know about and would never accept if they know.
The greatest probability exists that those responsible for the deed belong to the widespread net of muslim fundamentalists, Al Qaeda, with Osama bin Laden as figurehead and perhaps mastermind. Since US and Pakistan were very happy to finance, train, arm and support the Talibans, well knowing they were fundamentalists, in the fight against Soviet and later backed them in coming to power, those same powers bear a heavy burden of guilt for the Taliban´s deeds. But! We should not lower ourselves to the terrorist level and allow innocent people to be bombed or killed by starvation as a result of our neanderthal-instinct for bloody revenge. The predictable US reaction of letting loose missiles and bombs galore on one of the world´s poorest countries, already bombed, raped and looted beyond human understanding, is the answer to the terrorists wildest prayers as it will undoubtly be a great help in recruiting more fanatical youths for their future fight against “The great Satan” as they call USA. If there ever was a time to follow the principles that we are proud to call civilized it is now. US should help clear up the mess they have contributed to in Afghanistan, but “collateral damage” shouldn´t be risked. The common Afghani didn´t want the Talibans more than anyone else and has had his share of misery. The tragedy of Sept. 11 is but a whisper compared to the sufferings in Afghanistan. Let´s not make it worse.
Following the hailed western principle that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, whatever the damning evidence (or “links” to this or that that can be established) appears, nobody should be killed, bombed, nuked or starved on suspicions alone. US didn´t send in a missile on Al Capone´s house after the Valentine day massacre though every cop in town knew he was as guilty of that as of a lot of other atrocities. US don´t bomb areas suspected of harboring McVeigh´s domestic looneys. US even harbors known religious fundamentalists but instead of “smoking them out”, is willing to give Falwell and Robertson airtime. Is the “land of freedom” really a land of freedom only for white people of the correct faith?
Only fanatically religious persons or people with minds deranged by sickness, grief or utter misery can hate to the point of being willing to sacrifice themselves. Only a few are prepared to cause the death of innocent strangers. But a lot of people can feel very strong resentment for different reasons. This is what many pople around the world indeed do visavi USA. And in most cases they do have just reasons. To understand this one has to look for the truth and for those who have internet it really isn´t that much trouble to find that what the American public is told is often just a fragment of the truth if not plain lies. Type in “US involvement” or “CIA operation” or “destabilize” on any search engine and check intelligently through the hits, bearing in mind that official sources very seldom admit mistakes.
To shortly mention (those wanting to learn more should do some research of their own) some reasons that might be behind a lot of grudges against US it is enough to find some answers on:
Who toppled democratic president Mossadeq in Iran and installed the dictatorical Shah, ultimately causing a reaction to his rule by the mullahs?
Who backs and sell weapons to Israel even though Israel refuses to comply with UN resolution 242 and other?
Who stands firmly behind the house of Saud in order to protect its oil interests even though Saudi Arabia is a feudal relic only slightly less fundamentalist than the Talibans?
Who backed and supported Saddam Hussein even after he gassed 5000 of his own and who sold him the chemicals?
Who intervened for United Fruit in Nicaragua and brought a dictator to power?
Who has intervened to crush freedom movements or popular leaders in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and other South American countries?
Who backed dictator Marcos of Phillippines?
Who was instrumental in bringing mass murderer Pol Pot to power?
Who has caused more than 2.000.000 deaths in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia?
Who eliminated Lumumba in republic of Congo in –60 and installed all time gangster Mobutu & Co?
Who toppled democratic president Allende in Chile paving the way for dictator Pinochet?
Who toppled democratic president Sukarno in Indonesia and installed “our kind of guy” Suharto who robbed the nation?
Who supplied the weaponry needed to slaughter 100.000 East Timoreans?
Who invaded Grenada on a flimsy pretext?
Who invaded Panama to remove their earlier favorite ruler Noriega?
Who uses its economic clout to hammer through trade and investor liberalization all over the world that primarily benefit themselves and some rich elites?
Who steadily refuses international cooperation on weapon-control, global warming, International criminal court, regulation on dumping hazardous waste, biological weapons control, etc, etc, etc?
I am aware that some of these actions are explained in different ways when getting known by the public. Some of it can be documented, some not. CIA don´t like to put nasty things on paper. Until –90 the most popular excuse was “fight against communism”. However true that might have been in the eyes of a Reagan or Bush, a kid who sees his father getting tortured or killed by the dictator-regime defending against communism will not really accept that such an excuse as valid. Especially if said father´s real crime was to be active in a Workers Union. And the people of the rest of the world don´t distinguish between CIA and US military/ government. Its all done in the name of the American people, whether they know it or not.
“General, why did that unit wipe out 284 civilians in that Vietnamese village”?
Soon some general might use the excuse: “We had to stop them from becoming terrorists”!
The author is a independent observer of contemporary affairs. 58 years old, of Swedish origin and presently living in Germany. He can be reached via e-mail at jerre@skog.de.
Jerre Skog
www.skog.de
Oct. 15, 2001
Or read some articles on www.zmag.org or www.commondreams.org What can be found there is treated with the greatest silence by mainstream media and US leaders, even when written by eminent scholars.
http://www.hrw.org/worldreport99/americas/americas3.html
Deadly Legacy: U.S. Arms to Africa and the Congo War
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/chile/Patrick.htm
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/icc/
Too bad the profit from most such actions benefit the big corporations while it is the common people who have to endure the resulting aversion and hate.
“We did it to save them from the communists”!
