Posted By:
JimBDo you remember the Crusades?
Do you remember the colonial occupation of the middle east?
Do you remember the arbitrary drawing of national borders and the propping up of despots as rulers?
Do you remember the American arming of Sadaam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War?('The enemy of my enemy is my friend' is a very dangerous foreign policy.)
Do you remember the CIA training of al-Quaeda in Afghanistan to help fight the USSR? ('The enemy of my enemy is my friend' is a very dangerous foreign policy.)
I could go on. Most Muslims in the Middle East hold these historical events quite clearly in their minds.
I would never claim that Muslim responses to Western actions have been ethical or appropriate. They have been aweful and condemnable! But it would certainly be a mistake to think that Muslim terrorist actions against the West have come out of nowhere or arose out of some historical void where there was no wrong committed to provoke anything.
JimB