Americans are asking, why do they hate us? They hate what we see right here in this chamber -- a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.
It is safe to say that there are probably a fair number of non-conspiracy theorists who disagree with Bush's formulation. Over at Truth Action, in a fairly good post, JimD3100 says:
We were not attacked on 9-11 because some retards hated our freedom. They hated our government and what it does. They were also brainwashed by religion. Frankly whatever your reason is for wanting to park a passenger jet into a skyscraper---it aint good enough. There is no reason good enough to do that. But how about some reality? Israel was founded by terrorists. It worked. Israel itself is proof, to the terrorists, that terrorism might work. And Israel is proud of their terrorists past (and some say present).....
But gosh Jimd3100Stein you're starting to sound anti-Semitic! No I'm not calling for the destruction of Israel, what I'm saying is ground zero on "the war on terror" is not lower Manhattan it's the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it's about time someone said so. We were not attacked because "they hate our freedoms" we were attacked because of our governments inference in the internal affairs of other countries and our governments unwavering support for Israel no matter what it does.
There are a lot of Truthers and even non-Truthers who would like to reduce the terrorism to nothing more than our support for Israel. But in the fatwa that Osama Bin Laden pronounced against the United States, support for Israel was only third on the list of grievances. The number one reason was the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, where they had been since the first Persian Gulf War. Number two consisted of the sanctions against Iraq that had been in place following that war.
But I would like to return to the freedoms issue, because I think that is definitely a major key. Bush phrased it badly, with "They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other."
Those are the basic building blocks of our freedom, but let's talk about some more. Let's talk about the freedom of our women to participate freely in our society as equals with men. Maybe it's not perfect, maybe it was a lot less perfect in the past. But is there any real doubt that it's better than in, say, Saudi Arabia? Or in Afghanistan during the Taliban?
Remember, Mohamed Atta's will? Yeah, it was a bit goofy when he talked about how his genitals should be washed, but what about this part:
5. I don't want a pregnant woman or a person who is not clean to come and say good-bye to me because I don't approve it.
And:
11. I don't want any women to go to my grave at all during my funeral or on any occasion thereafter.
Remember that the type of rule the Islamo-fascists would like to institute everywhere already exists in one country: Iran. A country which, coincidentally, no doubt, leads the world in deaths by stoning:
Death by stoning came into use in Iran after the 1979 revolution.
Iranian protest outside Iran's embassy in Ankara, Turkey, 9 July The case has sparked an international outcry
Amnesty International says that at least eight people were stoned to death in 1986.
Homosexuals? Although Iran's President and 9-11 Truther Ahmadinejad claimed there are none in Iran, they do exist and their situation is even more dire:
Sodomy (lavat) is a crime for which both partners can be punished by death. If the participants are adults, of sound mind and consenting; the method of execution is for the judge to decide. If one person is non-consenting (ex. a rape), the punishment would only apply to the rapist. A non-adult who engages in consensual sodomy is subject to a punishment of 74 lashes.
So maybe Bush phrased it poorly. But do they hate us for our freedoms? Yep.
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