Being civil only works when both parites are civilized.
I got an email from a friend of mine, chiding me for my Amero-centric response to the events in Spain following the terrorist attacks. I was also given a lecture about the American imperialist actions in Iraq questioning our imposition of democracy on the Arab world.
First of all, I don't care what your opinons about the war in Iraq are. What the Spainiards did was f***ing stupid. No, the Spanish people didn't vote out the old goverment because it was pro-American. It voted out the government because it supported the Iraq war, which led to the attack. However, since America is currently in Iraq and since al'Queda don't want us (or Spain) in Iraq, and since the previous goverment supported the war and the new government won't support the war...it's ends up being about America doesn't it? Yes, it was also stupid of the Spanish goverment to try and pin the attack on the Basques before really having full information. I seriously doubt it would have changed anything if they had said it was the Arabs from the start.
I still don't get the characterization of the U.S. engaging in imperialist colonization. Afghanistan and Iraq where military targets. We are at war, people. Make no mistake. We are not at war with the Arab world, or with Islam, as many would like to paint it. We are at war with an extremist faction and the governments who support them and their terror. Even with all the mistakes that have been made in the esitmations of the costs, even with the misinformation, misinterpretation or outright lies about weapons of mass destruction—depending on your political leanings—the fact remains that al'Qaida is rapidly running out of governments willing to give them shelter and funding. Do you think they don't get that? Saddam was stupid and/or arrogant enough to believe he could win a war with the United States. bin Laden isn't either. His only hope is to drive a wedge between the United States and everyone else. So he blows up his own people while they are at prayer. He blows up innocent Spainiards on their way to work.
It is foolish to think that the war in Iraq has increased terrorist animosity. Desperation, maybe, but not animosity. We always have been the target of suicidal muslism extremists. 9/11 wasn't the first. Only the worst so far. Europe has borne a heavier burden of these attacks. Proximity has as much to do with that as anything else. I was in Europe in 1986. There were still soldiers with automatic weapons in the airports from the attacks in the early 80s. Now Spain has shown the terrorists they will cave to blackmail. France has already stated they will not retaliate against terrorist attacks. Europe seems to think that if they just ignore the terrorists they will leave them alone. Why is it so hard to understand that the nut jobs responsible hate the West? They blame the west for their poverty. They see the West as a threat to their backward, misogynistic, homophobic society. Constitutional democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq is their worst nightmare. They will stop at nothing to undermine those efforts. They will stop at nothing to destroy the West, even if they have to do it a bit at a time. They aren't just going to go away.
The U.S. has tried to play nice. We have tried the the rule of law to find and prosecute terrorists. Or we have at least pretended at it anyway. We've known all along it was bin Laden. Our allies have been telling us that for years. If Clinton had had the balls to slap some terrorist ass around after the first attempt on the Twin towers, or after the bombings of the embassys in Africa or the attack on the Cole in Yemen, they would not have dared 9/11. They would not have supposed that such a brutal attack would sway American public opinion to inaction. Whatever his other failings, Bush did the right thing in taking the war to them. I'm no international relations expert, but having been the target of bullies through my whole childhood, I did learn one thing. They are all cowards at heart. You stand up to them and they back down. You can't reason with them. You can't negotiate with them. You either cave to their demands or you fight back. Period.
The best possibility for curtailing the terrorists ability to wage war is to establish democratic rule in the Middle East. When people have control over their own destiny, when prosperity reigns, people are much less inclined to strap TNT to their bodies and detnonate. It is going to take a lot of hand holding for Democracy to have a chance in the Middle East. Democracy would come to the Middle East eventually. Take a quick look at Iran. As Iran is learning, when people become more educated, more capable of free thought, they quickly see through the lies that their current station is the result of oppression from the West, who sold its soul to Satan.
Arabs deserve the same freedom that we enjoy. Most of them want it, but they are hedging their bets. France refuses to engage the powers that have visted terror on them for decades. Spain rolls over and plays dead after a single attack. Not exactly encouraging signs for an oppressed people afraid of coming under the rule of another despot and afraid of repraisals if the United States doesn't stay its course. What have the United States and the world ever done to show that we care more about the people who live in the Middle East than we care about their oil? Not a damn thing. And we are surprised they don't trust us? We are surprised they don't like us?
What will the cost be for democracy in the Middle East? Will wars need to be fought as in America? Will there need to be a period of hellish anarchy as in France? If the United States is in a position to coach these countries through the growth process and avoid such bloodshed, shouldn't we at least try?