It's not always about you

A very nice article by Gwenn Dyer, courtesy Radio Free USA. A brief extract,

"Imagine the scene: It's 1999, and a group of wild-eyed Islamist fanatics are pacing a cave in Afghanistan planning 9/11.

"We must destroy American democracy. An America run by a dictator would be a much better place."

... No? This scene doesn't ring true? Then why does almost all public discussion in the U.S. about the goals of the Islamist terrorists assume that they are driven by hatred for the domestic political and social arrangements of Americans? Because most Americans cannot imagine foreigners NOT being interested in the way they do things ... .

This is what enables President George W. Bush to explain away why the United States was attacked with the simple phrase, "They hate our freedoms" ...