Blame the terrorists

Two views on the Bali bombings and on Bush's Thursday speech on terrorism and the war in Iraq, both reflecting a remarkably similar view.

Christopher Hitchens emphatically rejects claims that Islamo-fascist terrorism is caused by the policies of the West: he explains that 'Terrorist attacks aren't caused by any policy except that of the bombers themselves'. Concludes Christopher of the Bali bombings:

So, what did Indonesia do to deserve this, or bring it on itself? How will the slaughter in Bali improve the lot of the Palestinians? Those who look for the connection will be doomed to ask increasingly stupid questions and to be content with increasingly wicked answers.

Meanwhile, Lindsay Perigo has examined George W's recent speech on the continuing war on Terror and finds much to savour in what the President says, but finds too a disturbing contradiction:

There is both reassurance and folly in George W. Bush’s speech on terrorist-maggotry today at the National Endowment for Democracy. It is reassuring that he appears to be unmoved by the tide of treacherous Saddamy lapping at his doorstep... Reassuring also that the President does not buy into the view that what Western civilisation faces can be dismissed as mere random madness... But it’s disturbing that he repeats the error of separating the species from the genus... Jihad, the slaying of idolators “wherever ye find them” is at the heart of Islam and permeates the Koran . The fact that most Muslims are not currently engaged in it doesn’t mean it’s not a requirement of their religion.

If you still doubt these claims about the Koran, check out the Skeptic's Annotated Koran for the vicious intolerance and blind cruelty contained within. For on this point, argues Perigo, is contained the contradiction that Bush is yet to resolve :

Islam itself is a malignancy on the body of humanity. The actions of its consistent, true practitioner-maggots demonstrate that. But Bush can’t afford to say it. He himself is in thrall to a vicious religion that seems benign only because it has lost its political power—and under his Administration threatens to reclaim it. The President is undone by his own contradictions.

Linked articles: - 'Terrorist attacks aren't caused by any policy except that of the bombers themselves' - 'Ignoble Islam'

Categories: Terror, Politics_US