My fingers are in my ears; I can't hear you.
We refuse to acknowledge terrorism in realistic ways in this country. Like many other contentious issues, there are a few reasons. Here are some of them:
1) The Republicans in power wish to continue to take credit for their domestic success. How often have you heard someone on the right mention that there haven't been any terrorist attacks since September 11th? That claim goes right out the window if any of the attacks by young Muslim men are determined to be terrorist attacks. In an effort to keep their record spotless, the Republican leadership takes a very specific, and inaccurate, definition of terrorism. The historical definition has been associated with assaults on civilian targets for the purpose of creating a political or social change. But, no, the Republican leadership believes it has to be accomplished via a web or network of people who can be linked directly to terrorist organizations. This is the only way they can continue to claim undiminished success domestically.
2) The Democrat leadership wish to convince as many people as possible that terrorism is not a threat. Their actions since shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan have been directed toward minimizing the appearance of that threat. Merely admitting that an aggressive war against terrorism is necessary, because terrorist organizations have already declared war on us, was enough to get Joe Leiberman kicked out of his party. If terrorism does still threaten us, and the Democrats consistently want to appease, surrender, or flee from terrorists, they are not going to be trusted with national security, and they will lose elections. As they are deeply opposed to violent physical conflict with people, even people attempting to kill us, the only recourse is to convince people that the threats aren't particularly noteworthy... and that's tough to do when US citizens are being killed by domestic terrorism.
3) Both sides wish to protect peaceful Muslims. Honestly, the US is one of the world's greatest repositories of Muslim reformers. There are many in the country who reject the more literal interpretations of the Koran's passages calling for violence, and there are yet more who call themselves Muslim, but whose devotion to their holy writings extends merely to attending service once a week, or perhaps stopping by once or twice a year during key events, or who simply call themselves Muslim because that's how their parents were raised, but who haven't been to a mosque in ten years. Muslims are no different from Christians in that regard.
But, there are still a lot of people who do believe that the Koran calls for violence. Those are the ones who either approve, support, or even commit destructive or homicidal acts in the name of Allah. Failing to call them out for their views and actions would be like failing to call out the KKK and its supporters after a lynching in 1950, because to bring it to everyone's attention might cause negative views on the non-racists in that town. The only way pressure can be brought to bear for positive change is to demand the truth.
4) The international political scene is tricky; it's always changing, and allies are often needed to lend a hand in the completion of a goal. Even though they are not firm allies, countries like Kuwait, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are often willing to take action on our behalf, just as they often take action against us. There are large factions in most countries in the middle east... and, in fact, in most countries in Europe as well... who are willing to promulgate any negative story about the US, without any proof whatsoever. These groups are always willing to put out the word that the US is unfairly accusing a sucidal gunman of being a terrorist, while at the same time they praise the gunman for being a proper Muslim and killing Americans. Giving an excessive benefit of the doubt takes away kindling for the fires they wish to stoke.
5) Lastly, there's simple denial. Many people don't want to face the fact that they could be targeted for random death for no reason beyond their citizenship. It's far more comforting to believe you're generally safe, and that vehicular attacks and shootings are merely random, isolated incidents.
1) The Republicans in power wish to continue to take credit for their domestic success. How often have you heard someone on the right mention that there haven't been any terrorist attacks since September 11th? That claim goes right out the window if any of the attacks by young Muslim men are determined to be terrorist attacks. In an effort to keep their record spotless, the Republican leadership takes a very specific, and inaccurate, definition of terrorism. The historical definition has been associated with assaults on civilian targets for the purpose of creating a political or social change. But, no, the Republican leadership believes it has to be accomplished via a web or network of people who can be linked directly to terrorist organizations. This is the only way they can continue to claim undiminished success domestically.
2) The Democrat leadership wish to convince as many people as possible that terrorism is not a threat. Their actions since shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan have been directed toward minimizing the appearance of that threat. Merely admitting that an aggressive war against terrorism is necessary, because terrorist organizations have already declared war on us, was enough to get Joe Leiberman kicked out of his party. If terrorism does still threaten us, and the Democrats consistently want to appease, surrender, or flee from terrorists, they are not going to be trusted with national security, and they will lose elections. As they are deeply opposed to violent physical conflict with people, even people attempting to kill us, the only recourse is to convince people that the threats aren't particularly noteworthy... and that's tough to do when US citizens are being killed by domestic terrorism.
3) Both sides wish to protect peaceful Muslims. Honestly, the US is one of the world's greatest repositories of Muslim reformers. There are many in the country who reject the more literal interpretations of the Koran's passages calling for violence, and there are yet more who call themselves Muslim, but whose devotion to their holy writings extends merely to attending service once a week, or perhaps stopping by once or twice a year during key events, or who simply call themselves Muslim because that's how their parents were raised, but who haven't been to a mosque in ten years. Muslims are no different from Christians in that regard.
But, there are still a lot of people who do believe that the Koran calls for violence. Those are the ones who either approve, support, or even commit destructive or homicidal acts in the name of Allah. Failing to call them out for their views and actions would be like failing to call out the KKK and its supporters after a lynching in 1950, because to bring it to everyone's attention might cause negative views on the non-racists in that town. The only way pressure can be brought to bear for positive change is to demand the truth.
4) The international political scene is tricky; it's always changing, and allies are often needed to lend a hand in the completion of a goal. Even though they are not firm allies, countries like Kuwait, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are often willing to take action on our behalf, just as they often take action against us. There are large factions in most countries in the middle east... and, in fact, in most countries in Europe as well... who are willing to promulgate any negative story about the US, without any proof whatsoever. These groups are always willing to put out the word that the US is unfairly accusing a sucidal gunman of being a terrorist, while at the same time they praise the gunman for being a proper Muslim and killing Americans. Giving an excessive benefit of the doubt takes away kindling for the fires they wish to stoke.
5) Lastly, there's simple denial. Many people don't want to face the fact that they could be targeted for random death for no reason beyond their citizenship. It's far more comforting to believe you're generally safe, and that vehicular attacks and shootings are merely random, isolated incidents.
posted by AM | 7:37 PM
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