"Why do they Hate Us?" Historian Responds

[ethics]

Here’s a very interesting piece at the Wall Street Journal by Peter Waldman, about the influence of Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis on US foreign policy: A Historian’s Take on Islam (http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB107576070484918411-IBje4Nklah3m5uvZ32GcKiEm4,00.html).

“The question people are asking is why they hate us. That’s the wrong question,” said Mr. Lewis on C-SPAN shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. “In a sense, they’ve been hating us for centuries, and it’s very natural that they should. You have this millennial rivalry between two world religions, and now, from their point of view, the wrong one seems to be winning.”

He continued: “More generally ... you can’t be rich, strong, successful and loved, particularly by those who are not rich, not strong and not successful. So the hatred is something almost axiomatic. The question which we should be asking is why do they neither fear nor respect us?”

[Sierra Mike]

He continued: “More generally ... you can’t be rich, strong, successful and loved, particularly by those who are not rich, not strong and not successful. So the hatred is something almost axiomatic. The question which we should be asking is why do they neither fear nor respect us?”

[/indent]
Well, I can tell you that had we elected to publicize some inordinately successful operations back in the 1980s, they would probably fear us more than they do now.

I have to be EXTREMELY circumspect, but there was an op that was created under the auspices of the newly-formed USSOCOM, using formerly "black" units such as SFOD-D and TF160. Inside this operation was actually a separate op that received no official security level--not restricted, not secret, not top secret--because it didn't really exist at all.

If the results of that operation could be public, then these thugs might respect us a little more, because they paid a dear price that night and the friendlies got away without a scratch.

Sorry to be so cryptic, but... ;)

SM