"Myth and denial in the War on Terrorism" by William Blum

[Droopy]

It dies hard. It dies very hard. The notion that terrorist acts against the United States can be explained by envy and irrational hatred, and not by what the United States does in and to the world- i.e., U.S. foreign policy- is alive and well. The fires were still burning intensely at Ground Zero when Colin Powell declared: "Once again, we see terrorism; we see terrorists, people who don't believe in democracy...." <1>

George W. picked up on the theme and ran with it. He's been its leading proponent ever since September 11 with his repeated insistence, in one wording or another, that "those people hate America, they hate all that it stands for, they hate our democracy, our freedom, our wealth, our secular government." (Ironically, the president and John Ashcroft probably hate our secular government as much as anyone.)

<snip>

Thus it was that Afghanistan and Iraq were bombed and invaded with seemingly little concern in Washington that this could well create many new anti-American terrorists. And indeed, since the first strike in Afghanistan, there have been literally scores of terrorist attacks against American institutions in the Middle East, South Asia and the Pacific, about a dozen in Pakistan alone: military, civilian, Christian, and other targets associated with the United States. The latest being the heavy bombing of the U.S.-managed Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, the site of diplomatic receptions and 4th of July celebrations held by the American Embassy.

<snip>

http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1529&mode=thread&order=0

This article was written before the bombing of the U.N. today in Iraq. There's a lot more to it than what I have here including a summary of U.S. foreign policy blunders since the 1980s. It's well worth reading. He concludes with what he would do if he were president regarding foreign policy.

[bemildred]

1. Nice piece.

Some links I have found illuminating:

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=887
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/issue_SeptOct_2001/sprinzak.html
http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=112

(I'm not advocating the sources, just that the discussion is
interesting if you want to get beyond the blowhard rhetoric that
dominates most discussion of this subject.)

[rini]

2. The Yellow Times

is a well known for being an anti-American, anti-semitic rag.

[Droopy]

3. Did you read the story?

I think it's a fair critique of American foreign policy. It's not anti-American to point out these mistakes. I have seen several articles on there that are sympathetic to the cause of creating a Palestinian state. Just because there are writers on there that are sympathetic to this cause does that make them anti-Semites?

[rini]

4. You'r absolutely correct

in and of itself that does not make anyone anti-semitic or anti-American. As a matter of fact you should hear me rant after Dubbya pulls some stunt, yet I love this country with my whole heart. It is hard to explain but I'll try simply because nice people can be fooled by well written rhetoric.

When you took drama or creative writing in college, remember learning about plot and sub plot? That is how this rag gets its anti-American and anti-semitic agenda across. I read an article, sent by a friend, read it once, got an uneasy feeling and read it again. I decided to do the "teacher thing" and critic it for accuracy and slant. That is when I discovered the sub plot was both anti-American and Anti-semitic. I went on the net to try and find the owners or shareholders...just that they are Canadian, not a name, nothing. Then I called a friend who works in media and emailed her the article. "Tell me about this author and the paper, am I paranoid or overly sensitive to nuance?" She replied by telling me the owners are a well kept secret but their anti-American stance and anti-semitism are well known.

[Droopy]

5. We're going to have to agree to disagree

I've been a regular reader of the site since before the Iraq war and I haven't seen anything on there that is anti-American or anti-Semetic. I've seen a lot of stuff that could be misinterpreted that way if you were for the war or if you are against the creation of a Palestinian state. They do have a lot of foreign writers on there and I think this gives a person a different perspective on current events. They have a lot of American writers on there, too. This site had an exclusive of a man who worked in Hussein's nuclear program until it was dismantled in the mid-90s. Back when Dick Cheney was saying he was confident that we'd find nukes in Iraq, the former Iraqi nuclear scientist was saying that it wasn't possible. Yellow Times was the only place you could get that, nobody else would listen.