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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MulhollandDrive who wrote (1819)	7/19/2005 12:47:08 PM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 541996

I am not justifying anything. I am saying that Hitchens' absolute declarations on what constitutes a legitimate motive has no meaning or impact outside his own piece. I can look at lots of posts on SI and dictate the poster's motives to my own satisfaction, but that won't tell me anything about what really motivated them unless I go and ask them. And if I don't like their answer, ranting about what they say and condemning it as absolutely nonexistent won't make it go away. They will keep posting what they like for their own reasons with no regard for my opinion. If you look at the history of Al Qaeda attacks you will find plenty of western countries with evil, sinful practices that weren't attacked. The pre-Iraq attacks in the US and its allies were typically explained by the U.S. policy in Israel or Saudi Arabia. The Van Gogh killing was a messy combination of a loonie individual who professed political motives. But how many similar attacks have happened in Amsterdam, home of sex and drugs for everyone who wants them? I lived there for two years from 2002-2004 and never heard of one. It's like saying that Tim McVeigh's act of terror means that all conservative white men are implacable enemies of American democracy because some of them have perceived grievances. A few crazy rightwingers thought they had a reason to kill innocents in a government building. The rest of us just thought they were psychos. But the FBI still tracks white supremacist groups, moreso than before probably. I don't find Hitchens' piece analytically useful. If you do, fine. Nothing we write or that he wrote will change what makes the actual bombers tick.