The true culprit of terrorism
It has become normal for the political commentators to spread misconceptions about the driving force of the modern-day terrorism.
Take this statement for example: Tariq Ali in the Guardian: “The real solution lies in immediately ending the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine”. Were the terrorist worried about Palestine? Did Tariq forget the 9/11 atrocities were planned amidst of Bill Clinton’s efforts to bring peace to Palestine? Tariq suggests the terrorists were pissed off because of the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. Did he forget the 9/11 happened a couple of years before the regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq were overthrown and the two countries occupied? Did the Saudi 9/11 bombers fight for a free Saudi Arabia or a free Afghanistan? Free from what?
Take the following statement then: Polly Toynbee in the Guardian: "Until wealth and democracy is more evenly spread this may stay part of modern climate change, a price to be paid." She is right about democracy because the lack of it could easily lead to violent expression of oppressed political ideas. But I can’t hear Polly praising the allies for facilitating free elections in Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems to me Polly and the likes of her somehow preferred the status quo. And this claim about poverty doesn’t survive the reality check. Polly should be told that the poorest countries on the planet are virtually terrorist-free. Who has ever heard of an Ethiopian or a Bangladeshi terrorist blowing himself up in the name of ‘social justice’ and redistribution of wealth? Poverty has nothing to do terrorism.
The opinions like the ones Tariq and Polly care to share with us somehow go down well with the public mainly because these are in line with both archaic and contemporary religious beliefs and because to claim something else is politically incorrect. It is the just struggle of the poor and the oppressed against the evil brought down upon us by the rich and powerful, they say.
But it is nothing of the sort. Behind the terrorist acts of al Qaeda lies nothing else but profound ideological incompatibility of the attackers with the libertarian set of values. It is the same ideological incompatibility which used to drive the European extreme left of the past like Baader Meinhof or Brigate Rosse. It is the ideological contempt of those who wish to surrender their freedom to someone or something else just to avoid the agony of the free will and the responsibility of the personal choice. They want someone else to take care of their affairs and tell them what to do. They want God, they want the Society or they want the Party to be responsible for their lives. Hence the praise and the understanding the Islamic extremists receive from the European left. They fight for the same cause and against the same enemy.
Take this statement for example: Tariq Ali in the Guardian: “The real solution lies in immediately ending the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine”. Were the terrorist worried about Palestine? Did Tariq forget the 9/11 atrocities were planned amidst of Bill Clinton’s efforts to bring peace to Palestine? Tariq suggests the terrorists were pissed off because of the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. Did he forget the 9/11 happened a couple of years before the regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq were overthrown and the two countries occupied? Did the Saudi 9/11 bombers fight for a free Saudi Arabia or a free Afghanistan? Free from what?
Take the following statement then: Polly Toynbee in the Guardian: "Until wealth and democracy is more evenly spread this may stay part of modern climate change, a price to be paid." She is right about democracy because the lack of it could easily lead to violent expression of oppressed political ideas. But I can’t hear Polly praising the allies for facilitating free elections in Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems to me Polly and the likes of her somehow preferred the status quo. And this claim about poverty doesn’t survive the reality check. Polly should be told that the poorest countries on the planet are virtually terrorist-free. Who has ever heard of an Ethiopian or a Bangladeshi terrorist blowing himself up in the name of ‘social justice’ and redistribution of wealth? Poverty has nothing to do terrorism.
The opinions like the ones Tariq and Polly care to share with us somehow go down well with the public mainly because these are in line with both archaic and contemporary religious beliefs and because to claim something else is politically incorrect. It is the just struggle of the poor and the oppressed against the evil brought down upon us by the rich and powerful, they say.
But it is nothing of the sort. Behind the terrorist acts of al Qaeda lies nothing else but profound ideological incompatibility of the attackers with the libertarian set of values. It is the same ideological incompatibility which used to drive the European extreme left of the past like Baader Meinhof or Brigate Rosse. It is the ideological contempt of those who wish to surrender their freedom to someone or something else just to avoid the agony of the free will and the responsibility of the personal choice. They want someone else to take care of their affairs and tell them what to do. They want God, they want the Society or they want the Party to be responsible for their lives. Hence the praise and the understanding the Islamic extremists receive from the European left. They fight for the same cause and against the same enemy.
posted by Domenico at 10:40 PM
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