Often times, the excuse made for when foreign Muslim terrorist organizations attack the United States is one of envy. Conservatives tend to argue that because they hate our freedom and prosperity, they are seeking to destroy us.
That explanation has always bothered me. I understand the implications of envy and how potent it can be, but envy is usually related to passion. What the terrorists have done requires much organization, coordination, and planning, all of which would be circumvented if all of it was done on impulse.
Certainly, envy could be a core part of the problem. But it seems to me that there is a much larger reason for doing so. And certainly not everyone within a terrorist organization is there because of envy.
When Ron Paul states that the 9/11 attacks were because of the United States occupations in the Middle East, he does so because he does not believe that such matters all that simple. Naturally, conservatives jump on him by claiming he is blaming the United States for the 9/11 attacks. But they offer little to no real explanation for how 19 people would be willing to crash planes into buildings other than hating us for our freedom and prosperity.
The fact is the United States has been heavily involved in the affairs of other nations for well over a century now. Ever since the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, progressive-minded leaders have always worked toward getting us involved in things that do not concern us.
But is the world better off these days compared to when we began all of this? We have spend the last century propping up dictators who proceed to use the weapons and money to enrich themselves and oppress their citizens. When confronted with this, many warmongering sycophants respond by stating that we need these grade-A assholes around in order to handle this grade-A asshole over there.
Granted, this does not happen often, but a radicalized Iran, for example, is largely the fault of the United States’ own misguided policies in setting up the Shah. Now, I will not say that had we not intervened in Iran, they would be an ally or would not be seeking nuclear weapons. We cannot possibly know what would have happened had things been different. Perhaps the same events would have played out with different faces and names.
But it would have been their choice and not ours. We constantly talk of freedom and boost about our accomplishments, which we have good reason to do so, but we deny the opportunity of freedom to others around rest of the world.
Come to think of it, this nation is probably one of the largest tyrannical nations these days anyway. The government at all levels presumes to know what is best for people like some poor man’s Dune novel rejecting the God-like notion of freedom to choose.
Which brings me back to my original quandary. I do not believe that these people view us with any envy but with an ardent fanaticism to their religion and an annoyance. Terrorism is usually employed against an overwhelming force in order to demoralize an opponent. It is a kind of guerilla warfare technique. The Viet Cong successfully employed it during the Vietnam Conflict in order to get the United States to leave (with no small help from Walter Cronkite).
Perhaps they were tired of seeing intelligence networks and special forces troops being used to kill, maim, and destroy their families and friends. God only knows how many secret operations have gone on in foreign lands in the name of the United States.
In any case, I really do not know the motivations behind these various organizations. Perhaps to claim that we do shows just how arrogant as a nation we are.
I suppose the real reason I support Ron Paul’s foreign policy is not because I believe we are to blame or because of our various military occupations, but that we simply cannot afford them. And frankly, I am tired of trying to fix the world.