Posted on 10/17/2002 4:34:55 PM PDT by JURB
Who's to blame for the Bali bombing? We've no shortage of suspects. Let's start with the most obvious:
-- The Australians. Yes, the Aussies. According to the new moral calculus of the day, they suffered the most in the terrorist attack -- so they surely bear much responsibility. They've been steadfast allies of the United States for decades, and have been among America's staunchest friends in the war against al-Qaida and Islamic terror. Well, this will teach them to act on principle. If they'd kept their noses clean, they would have been left alone for a few years. Islamic terror might have come to Australia in 2004 instead of 2002. Pity, yes, but they've only themselves to blame.
-- The Balinese. They built a disco where men and women of different races and creeds could drink and dance. Good Lord, what were they thinking? If we've learned anything from 9/11, it's that freedom itself is a great affront to the pious. If we don't shove our women into coal sacks and start lopping hands off junior-high shoplifters, we can expect to be bombed in God's name on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, the Balinese have to ask themselves: Why are they building resorts while Palestine remains occupied? Priorities, people. Priorities.
The Balinese also allowed commerce and development in their pristine nation, which will no doubt make many a Green think: Had it coming, bloke; the bombing of a disco is naught compared to the violence you've visited on the Balinese thrush and the Indonesian tide pool crab. We'll call this one a draw.
-- The Americans. We started this, you know. After 9/11 America did not replace the Statue of Liberty with a 400-foot statue of Jimmy Carter that loudly declaimed "WE SURRENDER" every hour on the hour and "FORGIVE US" on the quarter-hours.
No, the United States forswore diplomacy and took the war to the innocent Taliban, killing millions. (Or hundreds. Estimates vary.) As the cliche has it: When all you have is a daisy cutter, the whole world looks like a mountaintop encampment.
Did we offer Osama bin Laden a chance to address a joint session of Congress and lay out his case against the Christians and the Jews? No, we tried to kill him. And we're surprised that they've struck back.
As if Afghanistan wasn't enough, the United States is prepared to compound its errors by invading Iraq. The very notion has inflamed the moderate elements of Islam, turning millions of peaceful mosque- going family men into martyrs willing to die for a secular butcher.
Said the Sydney Morning Herald shortly after the bomb blast: "The question is whether external actors are manipulating nascent, radical Islam inside Indonesia, or whether international events -- in particular U.S. war plans for Iraq -- are, themselves, creating a new breed of Indonesian terrorists."
Perhaps the Bali bomber had cold feet at the last moment -- was this truly the right thing to do? Then he remembered that America was threatening not only to invade Iraq, but to do so without Security Council permission. And he once again saw red.
Not to blame:
-- The Indonesians. Shortly before the blast, the Indonesian House of Representatives speaker dismissed U.S. warnings that Indonesia might be a staging ground for terrorists. He said there was no proof that Indonesia was unsafe, and that should a threat surface, Indonesian security forces "could settle the matter immediately."
If you define "immediately" as showing up the next day and marching around with grim expressions, perhaps. But in retrospect, Indonesia looks quite wise. If they had bowed to U.S. pressure, al-Qaida would think they'd joined Bush's mad crusade. Now they have a chance -- a precious, rare chance -- to show that wiser heads know best what to do: nothing. But we're not counseling rash inaction -- no, Indonesia must proceed with care, consulting friends and neighbors, before deciding which form their inaction should take. (After a suitable debate, that is.)
-- The Terrorists. We may chide them for their rashness, their unfortunate means of expressing their grievance. But let us not waste time blaming them for what they were driven to do; let us seek to understand the roots of their rage. And please, no talk about hunting down the terrorists and eliminating the threat.
The West is the real threat. Once we're gone, the violence will end.
(James Lileks can be contacted at james.lileks@newhouse.com)
Now, however, I suspect that many, probably most, of Lileks co-workers in Minneapolis will be shocked and disgusted by his "intolerance" and "bellicosity".
Sometimes, I wonder if America is going to survive as a nation- let alone a great nation. If we are to survive, we need to convince the roughly 50% of voters who mindlessly vote Dumbocrat that we are NOT the source of all the world's ills- just the opposite, in fact.
I have been in enough third-world countries to know what I'm talking about- we don't have the greatest country on Earth because we are so much smarter or more moral than average- but we have a system of government that works. Indonesia is on the edge of a massive civil war, precisely because their system is a sham of democracy (most Muslim countries don't even bother with the sham- they are opuit-and-out theocracies or ryun by secular tyrants (eg, Iraq).
How politically uncorrect!
Thanks for posting -- Lileks is a treat.
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