First of all, I am vastly uneducated about this issue. I have very little understanding of Middle East history, culture, religion, and values. However, I assert that the vast majority of Americans share a similar lack of understanding. We just don't understand.
Robert Mcnmarra, the architect of the Vietnam war, said we lost the Vietman war becuase we did not understand Vietnam history. Vietnam had a history of being occupied, and it created a dynamic that made them percieve our occupation as very negative no matter what our intentions were.
How do the Iraqi's percieve our occupation? How does the rest of the Muslim world? After 9/11, 75% OF the people of Indonesia supported the United States. Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. Right now, less than 10% of Indonesians support the US. (I was relayed these numbers in a speech by nobel laureate Bobby Mueller.) Right now, the majority of Pakistani's support Osama Bin Laden and are sympathetic to the Taliban. Paksistan has over thirty nuclear warheads. Its president has been nearly assasinated multiple times.
Muslims in the Middle East don't like us because they believe our invasion in Iraq is an assault against the muslim world itself. Their perceptions are much different than our perceptions. A majority of Saudis believe that if Kerry is elected he will bomb Riad within months. It is an absurd thought, but they believe it!
What is the war on terror? Who is fighting and why? Right now, the middle east is in turmoil. It is sorting out how to organize itself. Will it become more secular, or less? When we say we want to invade Iraq in order to give them democracy, what we are really doing is saying we want them to make a choice between democracy or complete chaos. The problem is, it is not up to us to decide what choices they should make. It should be up to them. Furthermore, what we think we are doing is vastly different than what they think we are doing. How is "terrorism" different than our policy of preemptive wars? Thousands and thousands of civilans have been killed because of US military action. Are we better because our morals are better? It doesn't matter! It is not our morals that is being judged, it is our actions.
People in the Middle East see our invasion of Iraq, they see multitudes of civilians being killed, they see us torturing people. They see us supporting Israel in oppressing the Palestinians. They see us supporting corrupt regimes in places like saudi arabia. We might see these things differently, but that does not make them better. Our actions have caused multitudes of unnecessary deaths. We might find them justifiable, but the people that would attack us do not see them as justifiable. The middle east has a history of being invaded and opressed by Christians, why would they see this time as being any different? The only way the war in Iraq could be successful is by convincing millions and millions of people that our intentions are not evil. That is a nearly impossible task. That is why the first George Bush did not occupy Iraq. The Iraq war is a war that is nearly impossible to win.
Robert Mcnmarra, the architect of the Vietnam war, said we lost the Vietman war becuase we did not understand Vietnam history. Vietnam had a history of being occupied, and it created a dynamic that made them percieve our occupation as very negative no matter what our intentions were.
How do the Iraqi's percieve our occupation? How does the rest of the Muslim world? After 9/11, 75% OF the people of Indonesia supported the United States. Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. Right now, less than 10% of Indonesians support the US. (I was relayed these numbers in a speech by nobel laureate Bobby Mueller.) Right now, the majority of Pakistani's support Osama Bin Laden and are sympathetic to the Taliban. Paksistan has over thirty nuclear warheads. Its president has been nearly assasinated multiple times.
Muslims in the Middle East don't like us because they believe our invasion in Iraq is an assault against the muslim world itself. Their perceptions are much different than our perceptions. A majority of Saudis believe that if Kerry is elected he will bomb Riad within months. It is an absurd thought, but they believe it!
What is the war on terror? Who is fighting and why? Right now, the middle east is in turmoil. It is sorting out how to organize itself. Will it become more secular, or less? When we say we want to invade Iraq in order to give them democracy, what we are really doing is saying we want them to make a choice between democracy or complete chaos. The problem is, it is not up to us to decide what choices they should make. It should be up to them. Furthermore, what we think we are doing is vastly different than what they think we are doing. How is "terrorism" different than our policy of preemptive wars? Thousands and thousands of civilans have been killed because of US military action. Are we better because our morals are better? It doesn't matter! It is not our morals that is being judged, it is our actions.
People in the Middle East see our invasion of Iraq, they see multitudes of civilians being killed, they see us torturing people. They see us supporting Israel in oppressing the Palestinians. They see us supporting corrupt regimes in places like saudi arabia. We might see these things differently, but that does not make them better. Our actions have caused multitudes of unnecessary deaths. We might find them justifiable, but the people that would attack us do not see them as justifiable. The middle east has a history of being invaded and opressed by Christians, why would they see this time as being any different? The only way the war in Iraq could be successful is by convincing millions and millions of people that our intentions are not evil. That is a nearly impossible task. That is why the first George Bush did not occupy Iraq. The Iraq war is a war that is nearly impossible to win.