Bush is back, with a literal repeat of all the 9/11 shit. I was a proper rabid Islam-hater from 2001 to 2006, then SLOWLY peeled back the idiocy. Writing this blog helped to reorganize my thoughts, but I didn’t fully recover from neocon idiocy until I unplugged the TV in 2011.
The new/old Bush censors are clamping down on young folks who have rediscovered Sheikh Osama’s explanation of what he was doing. Let’s see whether WordPress is going along with the new/old censors. An experiment.
I bought and read the book in question, and still have the physical book. (Censored books are worth keeping in paper form, which can’t be altered remotely.)
Here’s what I wrote in 2009 at a time when I was mostly but not entirely peeled:
= = = = = START REPRINT:
Listening to CNN reading some responses from its viewers on the 8-year war in Afghanistan. One response from a man who identified himself as a Vietnam veteran: “I’ve got one thing to say to anyone who thinks we should get out: Remember 9/11.”
A fine rousing sentiment, but unfortunately it just doesn’t make sense.
Why did Osama want to attack us? From the Peter Arnett interview with Sheikh Osama in 1997: (in Messages to the World, p. 47)
Arnett: Will the end of the US presence in Saudi Arabia … end your call for jihad?
Osama: The reaction came as a result of the aggressive US policy toward the entire Muslim world and not just toward the Arabian peninsula. So if the cause that has called for this [jihad] comes to an end, this act in turn will come to an end. So the defensive jihad against the US does not stop with its withdrawal from the Arabian peninsula; rather it must desist from aggressive intervention against Muslims through the entire world.
= = = = =
Admittedly the claim of self-defense is always part of the propaganda of any warmaker. It may be true or false, but it’s always laid out convincingly enough to keep the people fighting.
There are two ways to dislodge this feeling of righteous response: (1) Remove the irritant that seems to justify the response. (2) Show the people that their effort is absolutely futile and counterproductive.
We are doing neither. In WW2 we took path #2: annihilated Jap and Kraut civilians by the millions until they finally understood the futility of their effort. In this war we’ve been delicate, dainty and careful, which will NEVER accomplish #2; we’ve only managed to validate the feeling that we are endlessly meddling in that part of the world. Now it’s too late for #2 anyway, even if we somehow miraculously acquired a sane government.
We’ve also put a lot of effort into “Installing Young Democracies”, which translates to the people as “corrupting our culture.”
So the only remaining choice is #1. Remove ourselves from the region and turn our military toward protecting our own ports and borders. After that, Sheikh Osama and his colleagues will undoubtely continue to agitate, but their agitation will be much less convincing.
= = = = = END REPRINT.
Clearly an emotionally conflicted response, but I reluctantly came to the right conclusion. Later I removed the reluctance.
= = = = = = = = = =
A week later, Nov 24: Nothing has happened, so I think WordPress has passed the test. Not surprising, considering the previous record. I moved to WordPress to escape canceling by Blogspot. For two years …
Come to think of it, EXACTLY two years. Started here on Nov 26, 2021.
For EXACTLY two years I’ve been saying the same things that were penalized at Blogspot. Nothing has gone wrong here.
Polistra's Mill 