Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Hanson on Not Being Liked

This one is pretty amusing.

When the golden dome of the Askariya shrine, a holy Shiite site in Iraq, was blown up last week, enraged militias did not attack American bases but rather went after Sunni extremists who, they privately believed, were the real culprits.

How could that have been when clerics loudly railed to the cameras that the United States was the perpetrator?

Meanwhile, Hamas, despite its hatred of the U.S. and unabashed pride in its terrorist suicide bombers, suddenly seeks victim status when Washington plans to cut Palestinian financial assistance. If America is so terrible, why would Hamas want its tainted money?

On any given day, the state-run media of the Middle East publish vile anti-Semitism and various slanders against the West. With such an unapologetic assault on Western values, why then would thousands riot when an obscure Danish publication runs a few tasteless cartoons caricaturing Islamic radicalism? And why would Western crassness be surprising to radical Muslims anyway, given their constant harangue that we are decadent and should be shunned?

One answer to these paradoxes is that though scorn of the United States may be a public sport, most abroad privately value American financial support — thus acknowledging the often positive global role the United States plays.
How very true. And what other culture would go out of it's way to aid those that would belittle them?

1 comment:

Granted said...

Good one. I especially like the troubled teenagers, both offensive and touchy at the same time, line. Hits far to close to home at a micro & macro level.