You mean this answer?
Publicly promoting democracy while supporting tyranny may be the most damaging thing we do. From the standpoint of democracy, Saudi Arabia looks much worse than Iran. We use the term “Islamofascism”—but we're supporting it in Saudi Arabia, with Mubarak in Egypt, and even Jordan is a police state. We don't have a strategy because we don't have a clue about what motivates our enemies.
I've got a lot of negative observations about Middle Eastern culture, but I will say one thing: they're not blind. Our actions are not in sync with our words, which is why they don't believe us when we talk about freedom and democracy.
Anyway, if you (and apparently a number of other FReepers) think his first answer is wrong, then we're in for a longer war than I thought.
NO...the part of the first answer that was wrong..was right at the start..and so the rest of the first answer didn't matter..
"In the long run we're not safer because we are operating on the assumption that we're hated because of our freedoms, when IN FACT, WE ARE HATED BECAUSE OF OUR ACTIONS IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD."
That part....we aren't hated for either of those reasons...because look at Madrid, London, Bali, THOSE countries aren't doing what America DOES...
The reason is because WE ARE NOT MUSLIMS....PERIOD.
A lot of people are missing the point on the Middle East. Before we can win the fight, we have to figure a few things out:
1. Islamic Ideology
2. State Nationalism
3. Trade(oil)
Which one of those 3 things has the MOST impact on our dealings with countries in the Middle East, from oour perception, and from THEIR perception, which is more important?
This is NOT an easy question to answer. Yet, somehow, if we want "peace", we have to figure out how to make the US national interests and interests of the people in the Middle East mesh together.
If the answer is #1 (Islamic Ideology), then we are in a war to the death. Islamic Ideology and Western Civilization/Judeo-Christian Ideals are NOT compatible at their most basic tenants.
If the Answer is #2, we have to figure out how to keep #1 from overpowering #2. Right now, we are working on the #2 supposition.
I believe #3 is the last one on the Middle Eastern person's list, but is actually probably #1 on the US list.