"Decades of denial about America's role in the world"

[SHRED]

WHY DO SO MANY AMERICANS FEAR MUSLIMS? DECADES OF DENIAL ABOUT AMERICA’S ROLE IN THE WORLD.

America has done hideous things to countries across the Middle East for decades, such as bomb a civilian air raid shelter, burning the silhouette of a mother trying to protect her baby onto its walls. It was inevitable that some people would seek revenge. This doesn’t mean that their brutality is justified, any more than the slaughter at Amiriyah was justified by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. It just means that humans are humans, violence begets violence, and Americans will always be in danger unless we change our foreign policy.

We must welcome immigrants from the Middle East both for moral and pragmatic reasons. Morally, the U.S. invasion of Iraq is what sent the region spiraling into catastrophe; only psychopaths set someone’s home on fire and then lock them inside. There are already three million Muslim American citizens. If the government keeps bombing the Middle East while making it clear that it genuinely hates Muslims, that will only spur to action more troubled weirdos like Omar Mateen — who was born in Queens, a few miles away from Donald Trump’s childhood home.

https://theintercept.com/2017/02/18/why-do-so-many-americans-fear-muslims-decades-of-denial-about-americas-role-in-the-world/


Will we ever wake up?

[LiberalLovinLug]

1. K & R

Very important article.
I think it would be very therapeutic as a nation to just admit for one fucking second that yes, America is partly at fault for the terrorist attacks against it and its allies, because of the last century of treating them like animals to be killed without conscience, or to be subjugated to violence with full support of the US.
Then...you could still have those (ie. Madeleine Albright) that may say that all the massive collateral damage is just the price that must be paid, as long as we all understand the blowback that will also be paid maybe for years afterwards, and are not surprised when it does happen.

But there will still be those of us dreamers that believe in an alternate way of negotiated and lasting peace along with an end to unfair exploitation of middle eastern countries, and every country for that matter.

[yurbud]

2. I can't believe Europe is still going along with our foreign policy given the waves of immigrants

and that a shooting war with Russia would inevitably be fought at least partly on their turf.