TWENTY-ONEThe War on Terrorism
The eastern US was basking in warmth and sunshine on the morning of 11
September 2001. Cars carrying men and women to their jobs were stream¬
ing toward cities, factories, and shopping centers. Yellow buses bore chil¬
dren to their schools. Trucks, trains, ships, and airplanes were carrying
cargo to and from all parts of the country. Suddenly a passenger jet airplane
flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. It
must have been a terrible accident, people assumed, until, twenty minutes
later, a second passenger plane sliced across the front and side of the South
Tower. Within the hour a third plane flew into the west side of the Pentagon
in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth jet crashed in a field east of Pittsburgh. It
was the most horrifying attack Americans had ever experienced. How many
more planes would strike? Who could have dreamt up such an atrocity?
How could they have seized American passenger jets and flown them into
major buildings? What reason could they have had for doing so?
"Why do they hate us?" was the way most Americans posed the question.
To answer it, you must review the history of the Middle East, US policies
toward the region, and their impact on its peoples, especially during the
past half century. Regrettably, few Americans have asked whether their gov¬
ernment's policies have helped or hindered democracy, economic develop¬
ment, or human rights in the Middle East. Such self-reflection has been
drowned out by misleading explanations: "Those Muslims hate our free¬
doms." Americans traditionally know little about foreign policy. With the
public unaware of conditions abroad, special interest groups, some of
which have deep pockets and little competition, have gained control over
Washington's decisions regarding the foreign areas that concern them.
Their parochial concerns come to be seen, in the mass media, the halls of