It saddens me when Americans cite our government's policies as propoganda and terrorist's policies as actions that are justifiable. America was not attacked because we got involved. America was attacked because we got involved and regularly failed to act. This lack of action made us seem as easy prey for those who seek any opportunity to kill that which is not them. The following are quotes from Osama Bin Laden:
“We love death. The US loves life. That is the difference between us two." - November 2001
"Hostility toward America is a religious duty, and we hope to be rewarded for it by God . . . . I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of the so-called superpower that is America." - Time Magazine
"I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in — and the West in general — into an unbearable hell and a choking life." - Al-Jazeera interview October 2001
Americans who declare that we need to learn to mind our own business so that the terrorist will stop attacking us needs to understand that terrorist have no desire to stop fighting us; it is their core purpose and everything else is justification to that purpose. Anyone, Muslim or otherwise, who disagree with them are enemies as well. American isolationism has never been the answer either. Up to World War I and World War II, aside from the Monroe Doctrine's desire to protect our weaker American neighbors from foreign colonization, America maintained an isolationist policy. Because of this, over 95 million souls were butchered during 10 years of war over a span of 31 years .
After World War II, we decided to enact policies that made world business our own business and as a result, in the last 60 years that have followed, only 8.5 million total has died in over 20 years of world conflicts such as Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Libya, Panama, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Liberia, Haiti, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Afghanistan where we have been directly involved, while a total of 133 independent nations have been freed to follow their own destinies. I would say that the cost of 8.5 million is a significant difference from the previous 95 million and though each life is precious, it is unfortunately not seen as such by our enemies. I would also say that if there is a fault in American policies, it is the expectation that any new democracies that we help establish is going to be friendly to us.
Unfortunately, this is not always the case as the indigenous population will always look to their own interest. Despite this, they generally become peaceful nations in the world with the desire to protect their own interest as well as their own independence. They do however, look forward to American support, although there is a reluctance in knowing that such support comes with strings. For the most part, the strings are not so hard a pill to swallow because it is also in their best interest but the few times when such support become more aggressive or even dangerous, these nations feel cornered by American actions in their region.
There has been many times when American actions have been a benefit to these friendly nations and yet, there has been far more times when we took too long to act or failed to act quickly or properly, and at their expense. History shows that we have failed the Kurds, Kuwaitis, Israelis, Afghans, Somalis, Lebanese and Saudis because we failed to act or acted too late or too little and when we did act, we failed our own troops because we bound their hands and withheld the tools and equipment that they knew was necessary to dispatch their duties. In doing such, we emboldened our enemies and made distant our allies; they rejected us not because we were in their business, but because they feared our lack of action while in their business.
Previous to Nine-Eleven, many Kurds were killed because we promised help and never delivered and when Iraq threatened Kuwait, we promise Kuwaitis safety while dragging out any threat at the Iraqis. We promised support to our Northern Guard Allies in Afghanistan and failed to follow through until after being hit by our enemies. We stood idly by when Ho Chi Minh asked for us to support independence of all Vietnam against the French (North and South), only to turn to communism for salvation, we stood idly by while the Cubans went into Grenada, when Manuel Noriega wrested control of Panama and we stood idly by while our Israeli friends stood vigil alone against the night.
Nine-Eleven has changed all that, our policy is now to act; to deliver a message and stand by that message. There are fewer places in this world that is a threat to world peace, thanks to American policies and those Americans who claim that U.S. involvement in the world is the cause of Nine-Eleven do not understand that terrorist do not need our involvement as justification for their actions, but rather this excuse is merely one of many weapons in their arsenal that can be easily tossed for another. Proof of our success is that post war Iraq is a nation again standing on its own and has as much news being reported as any other democracy in that region, and the people are making their own destiny. Yes, it is a fragile government, but for now it is fending for itself despite all the nay-sayers.
Ten years after Nine-Eleven, there is still much to do, but remember, so much has already been done. God Bless America.
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