Bush said the motive for blowing up those planes was a hatred of freedom?

Question

is this not a) completely untrue and b) dangerously over-simplifing the situation?

Answer 1

The answers of course are a) Yes and b) Yes. Terrorism is practiced by marginalized groups who don't think they have any other way of attacking someone. As far as Islamic militants, they resent Western involvement in their part of the world. They blame the West for the poverty and tinpot dictators who run the countries based on old colonial borders. Some of it is warranted and some isn't. None of that justifies their killing of civillians. Unfortunately that's way too much to put on a bumper sticker and way too difficult for a Bush Supporter to understand.

Answer 2

All of the accused were British citizens - as such they had all the freedoms British citizens enjoy, but now they are enjoying all the freedoms terrorist suspects have - namely none. Besides, why would somebody hate freedom? Why would someone WANT to live in a totalitarian dictatorship? It's part of a cunning ploy to make the "enemy" seem less than human, because you can't understand them. Besides, how is blowing up a plane going to take away the freedoms of the American people - except of course the freedom of American plane passengers to not be hassled by the fascists at airport security.

If Bush says "they hate our" and then insirts some intangible thing that nobody could PROVE they DON'T hate, then it if far far easier than saying "they hate our foreign policy, and the fact we treat them like our colonial oil slaves"

Answer 3

This situation has a lot of stakeholders, from decision-makers to operatives. Each has their own motivations. Decisions may be a mixture of tactics and ideology. X wants to (be FREE to) control some land or a natural resource; Y wants to get to his rewards (inc freedom) in heaven, therefore "pleases God", by hurting innocent (free/debauched) people; A wants a good story to keep the advertizers happy ($ = freedom), and B has a load of weapons to sell, for the same reason. Nobody hates freedom - this is not possible. There's just not much to go round.

Answer 4

Interesting question. On point b, yes, it is completely over-simplifying the situation, but then in Bush's 'with us/ against us' black and white world, there is little that isn't over-simplified to the point of meaninglessness.

On your first point, I don't think Bush even properly understands the basic precepts of liberty. He has had US citizens phones tapped and spied on, library records scrutinised, 'freedom of speech zones' created for peaceful protestors, and protestors arrested en masse during the RNC.

I don't think freedom even comes into the terrorists lexicon. I think this is far more about hitting back at what they percieve to be the attack on their way of life, and a continued barrage on their people, sovreignty and oil. While I despise terror and the people that perpetuate it, I think a great deal more could be achieved by restructuring foreign policy to make terror less attractive to the people most at risk, young, unemployed and angry men in places that have been in some form of conflict or other for the better part of half a century, while at the same time seeking out terror cells and obliterating them.

Iraq and the GOP war on terror have proved toothless, idiotic, contrary to freedom and entirely counter-productive.

Answer 5

A little of column a, a little of column b - Simpsons

They are pissed off because of the way we treat and have treated the Arab and Muslim people. This was started by the creation of Israel out of stolen land (land rights are very important to their people). And gets worse the more we do over there.

If they were against freedom, they wouldn't have supported the elections in Palestine, etc. Israel and America were against Palestinian freedom when we condemned the entire Palestinian population for freely electing people they believed would run the country best.

Answer 6

Dangerous over-simplification.

Answer 7

It's not about freedom, it's about an ideological conflict. People in the west only think they are free, it's a clever deception. Ask the poor, the infirm, the marginalised and groups excluded from economic and social power by reasons of birth or religion or locale what freedom in the west really means.

Answer 8

I think Karl Marx said that religion is the opium for the masses. So if our so called leaders can befuddle our minds with B/S then we as the wandering sheep will follow along blissfully happy and sublime/.

Answer 9

Yes and yes. The War on Drugs turned into the War on Terror, which in turn has turned into the War against the War on Freedom. Whatever keeps the sheeple happy.

Answer 10

Yes, but he gets away with it because most Americans are dumber than dirt.