[edited] I appreciate SaintSatan's post. This Rebuttal is not intended as any negative response to SaintSatan. I think he did a good thing to post an important point of view, a view that needs consideration to balance out the actioins of political leaders everywhere. Likewise, I trust that this rebuttal can serve that purpose as well.
Americans: We are not so ill-informed as to fail to understand the plight, poverty, and suffering of third world nations. Americans are well aware of the mistakes our leaders have made, and the anti-American expressions over the years, such as 'Yankee Go Home!" Americans well remember our blunders, especially our protracted war in Viet Nam, a war that did not accomplish any useful purpose other than to kill a lot of good people on all sides. Americans are taught at an early age of our nation's mistreatment of Japanese Americans during WWII, our enslavement of African Americans, broken treaties with American Indians, and many subsequent civil rights problems. Americans are equally aware that many of our nation's foreign policies have supported bad governments that have hurt people. We did this under the banner of resisting communism as the ostensible motive. Americans are taught, from kindergarten through college, to feel guilt, guilt, and more guilt for these errors, and at times for our very existence.
Have we also done good? I submit that we have done good. We set the world on fire with the notion of democracy. Our major contribution in WWII strongly helped in ridding the world of Hitler and the Nazis, Mussolini and Facism. For 50 years thereafter, we kept the Soviets in check. We rebuilt nations after WWII. We sent many volunteers via scores of religious missions, private and public charities to feed, cloth, and educate the poor. We poured billions upon billions over decades out of our hard earned tax dollars into many nations to help, only to discover that power-mongers in those nations lied via propaganda to their people that America did nothing; and accusing us of ill intention and bad behavior. Often these were lying communists bent on enslaving the people. We sent in our young men at the request of many nations, such as Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait to liberate them, as well as saving their only real asset --- oil --- yes, oil we need, but oil that we built the infrastructure for including the pumping rigs and storage and delivery systems; oil that we pay dearly for, and oil that enriches those peoples such that they are far wealthier than the average American. We build infrastructure, such as the airports and shipping ports, and the entire city of Jubail -- the worlds largest construction project in history --- a city pre-built and dfesigned for 250,000 people --- and then do so wihtout violating the culture of those people --- a city built by the company I once worked for - Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco. We loan money at favorable rates and sell the equipment and technology, often on long term credit they may never pay, just so thesew nations can fend for themselves. Yet, they often take such aid and buy guns and start wars, then have the gall to blame it all on America.
What thanks do we get? By way of example, one of their spoiled brat filthy rich sons, Osama Bin Laden takes $300,000,000 in inheritance, oil money from the USA, and starts a war in Afghanistan against the Soviets, a war that American also financed and provided equipment and training. A war that saves Bin Laden his hundreds of millions of dollars. What does Bin Laden do? Does he take his filthy rich money and help build Afghanistan, feeding the poor and making that country better off? Oh NO! He buys more weapons, training, and then blames the USA for violating their holy land and culture and kills Americans! What a dirty, filthy, wicked hypocrite he is! He is not alone, but one among many such evil men bent on pure cultish hatred of Americans and other western nations.
What should these poor people have done? So while these people are poor and backward, what could they have done? Was violence the only way to get attention? Absolutely NOT!!! Many Amewicans, including me, have read information that speaks to their cause, but too little information is available that would have helped us understand what happened to Palestine and other poor nations. These people fail to understand us. For had they understood, or taken the time to understand, they would have used our media, and with a few of Bin Laden's filthy rich American dollars earning huge interest, could have filled us with information so we could pressure our leaders to change and improve policies so that we could be more constructive with them, and not continue to make blunders.
They could have done as many Arab Americans are now doing, reaching out to us, and helping us understand that Islam means PEACE, and that the Holy Koran forbids harming others or commiting suicide.
What these wicked terrorists have really done: Instead of endearing Americans and using some of Bin Laden' riches, and the riches of the Arabian oil Barrons, and even the financial aid from American and other nations to provide more information and education, they decide to hurt innocent American people, and people of other nations working at WTC. They fail to understand that America is not a race, or ethnicity, or culture. Our nation is an idea, an idea that is designed to embrace all. Yes an idea that still needs so much improvement, and mostly the hearts of still ignorant racists, but an idea that is growing and improving, and an idea that binds us in a way that is not understood.
What these evil terrorists did was to rally the whole world around us, and they made our good people side with our government against them; and they, by their wicked actions placed themselves against the very people that would otherwise been their best friends. They really misjudged us, and I dare say this was a most serious mistake to do as they have done. So, as the "blame Game" is spread around, these evil terrorists bear the brunt of the responsibility.
Do they have any justification? If a person is poor and breaks into any of your homes, kills your wife and children, and burns your house, what would you have the authorities do? Would you want your neighbors to say that it was your fault because you had plenty and the poor mistreated thief had nothing? Or would you seek the prosecution of the thief as a criminal, and rally your neighbors to share in mutual security? Would you argue that the thief must learn to find constructive ways to solve the dilema, or cave in and give him even more than he already took from you? These wicked terrorists have absolutely no justification to use ANY religion, be it Isalm, Christianity, Judaism or any other in this cultish fashion to kill innocent people as a means to an end. These terrorists are really CRIMINALS -- evil Criminals who have surendered their to be heard any further. They forfeited this when they kill innocent people to achieve thier ends. they belong in prison with the lowest dregs of society.
What may eventually happen? The USA, with the support and help of the rest of the world will eventually win out, as they did with Pirates in the 19th century --- a similar form of terrorism requiring much the same tactics as they are about to use today.
And yet, when all is said and done, the USA and other western nations will end up rebuilding those societies that often harbored these wicked terrorists, and will do much to reverse the unfortunate wars. Then I fear that my grandchildren will be "blamed" again for something that my generation failed to do in some exact and perfect way that we should have soemhow had the forsight to see into the future and make right. And some young little asshole from that part of the world will rise again to kill more innocent people in the 22nd century --- and the nonsence of stupid religious cults will continue, polarizing the right, left, and one religion against another. And history will keep repeating itself.
What we all wish for? I can't really speak for everyone here, but I believe that the majority of us do not want any harm for people of other nations. We would have them enjoy opportunity, wealth, and a good living standard with us. We do not want to invade and change their cultures, except to have them act responsibly and enage in mutual security and respect for us and our ways of life. I am sure that the majority of third world nations and their people want to work peacefully with us to grow and prosper. But as long as we tolerate wicked terrorists, propagandists, power-mongers, religious cultist, and allow them to keep heaping guilt on us through lying jingoism, then our next generation will grow to live and die at the hands of terrorism. I can only hope that together, we, as civilized and responsible people, recognize our mutual needs, and find a way once and for all that will be a "win-win" for all nations. When that can begin to happen, then, and only then, can we set aside our destructive behavior, and move forward in far more productive and positive endeavors. - Amazing