NYPost

DUBIOUSLY DEEP THOUGHTS

October 9, 2001 -- Why do they hate us? That's what all the so-called deep thinkers are asking about America's Islamic enemies.

Or, as they might put it, America's enemies who happen to be Islamic.

Even as Western ordnance lit up the Afghan sky for the second night in a row, the talking heads were again busy yesterday searching for "root causes."

How they so miss the point.

And at America's peril.

Indeed, their very line of inquiry prompts a better question: Has there ever been a culture more burdened with well-paid preachers of self-doubt and defeatism than America's?

Probably not.

It's one thing when reflexively anti-American loons like "Hanoi Jane" Fonda urge folks to "try to understand the underlying cause of the crime."

Or when pretentious cranks like Susan Sontag write off the World Trade Center casualties "as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions."

But when broad swaths of the mainstream press go out in search of deeper meaning and root causes, beware.

Look at this week's newsweeklies.

"Can Bush's strategy . . . get bin Laden without inflaming the Muslim world?" asks Time. Newsweek touts a special feature on "the roots of Islamic rage."

Imagine where this country would be if Americans had paused to consider the "underlying causes" of the massive sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy?

Back then, of course, judgmentalism wasn't a sin.

They attacked us.

We attacked back.

No questions asked.

Indeed, the right response when someone asks why bloody-handed killers like Osama bin Laden hate America is:

Who cares?

Osama ordered the deaths of some 6,000 innocent people, mostly Ameri- cans, on American soil.

What difference does it make why?

There's no justification for such evil.

There's no excuse.

And the only question that matters is how can they be eradicated most quickly?

Let's be clear: Those who search for root causes and underlying motives have underlying motives of their own.

They mean to suggest that America brought Sept. 11 on itself. People who wouldn't dream of blaming the victim in other circumstances suddenly start searching for reasons to let Osama off the hook.

America is too supportive of Israel, they claim.

Or disrespectful of Islam.

Americans by their very presence, it's said, defile holy land in places like Saudi Arabia.

The "deepest" of thinkers accuse America of failing to understand Islam, its culture, history, pride - and pain.

Little of this, of course, is true.

But even if it were, it still wouldn't be relevant.

Again, there's no explanation needed - or possible - as to why "holy warriors" are out to destroy Western civilization.

Suffice to know that they are.

And that they must be stopped.

Rather than ask - corrosively - "why they hate us," it might be better to think about how they came to believe they could get away with their acts of savagery.

Part of that answer, at least, lies in the very self-doubt and hesitating nature of the West that is so exposed by searches for "understanding."

Osama must be laughing at us for that.

It is to be hoped that, in the end, Americans will provide the only answer that matters: not "understanding," and certainly not handwringing.

The world needs bin Laden dead.

Time enough later to fret about "root causes."

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2001

Answers

Git, I thought you were more thoughtful than to post such a post.

Some of us DID question why the Japanese bombed Pealr Harbor. Didn't you?

And while many of us agree that OBL must go (IF he's the guilty party, which seems apparent, but then again, why won't the US govt show the Afghans the proof?), that does not equate to killing innocents.

Why are you supporting actions without thinking?

JOJ

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2001

This is a conservative news forum, not a debate forum. If you don't like the point of view, please find another forum.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2001

Git, you say, "Osama must be laughing at us for that.

It is to be hoped that, in the end, Americans will provide the only answer that matters: not "understanding," and certainly not handwringing.

The world needs bin Laden dead. "

This is what you call "NEWS"? You should get a job for the president's office of newspeak.

Ok, I'm outa here. Go play with yourself.

JOJ

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2001

Note: The post at the beginning of this thread is cut and pasted from the New York Post, as so indicated at the top. I do not claim authorship. If readers wish to find less conservative news than is reproduced in this forum, they are invited to go to less conservative sources. A good start would be The New York Times and The Washington Post.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001