Root causes

You see, the problem with America's approach to dealing with terrorism is that we arrogantly refuse to try to understand the reasons for terrorism. We, in our simplistic way, fail to try to understand the things that drive people to want to kill us. Instead, we impose our own false motivations on them to try to characterize these people in a way that is convenient for us - primarily people from one end of the ideological spectrum who utterly lack the nuance to understand and respond with appropriate policy.

Fortunately, in this age of new media, the voices of the misunderstood victims of this propaganda campaign whose beliefs are so misconstrued cannot be silenced. They are readily available to anyone who is simply willing to look at them. For example, there is this Frenchman who is willing — nay, eager — to explain to all who will listen what it is that drives him to his desparate crimes. This CNN video provides a nice summary, with some more details in the articles that follow.

Moussaoui resists effort to portray him as insane
Subhead: He tells prosecutors he'd kill Americans 'anytime, anywhere'

"I fight," he said. "And God will help me and free me."

[...]

Would he do it again tomorrow? Would he take flying lessons again tomorrow and pilot a hijacked plane into the White House, as he testified last month he was preparing to do.

"Today," Moussaoui said.

[...]

[Lead prosecutor Robert] Spencer pressed on. He reminded him of a previous witness, Army Lt. Col. John Thurman, who barely crawled out alive from the burning Pentagon wreckage on Sept. 11.

"I was regretful that he didn't die," Moussaoui said.

Spencer asked how he felt about Navy Lt. Cmdr. Vince Tolbert, who died inside the Pentagon. "Make my day," Moussaoui said.

So you are willing to kill Americans anywhere, even in prison? "Anytime, anywhere," Moussaoui said.

And it was your choice to accept al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's call to join the Sept. 11 plot?

"My pleasure," he answered.

[...]

Moussaoui said of [Oklahoma City bomber Timothy] McVeigh: "The greatest American."

Moussaoui jeers at tears for dead
IN A second self-destructive courtroom performance, Zacarias Moussaoui has scolded grieving relatives of victims of the attacks on September 11, 2001, for crying on the witness stand.

He told jurors: "I'm glad they are suffering pain. I just wish it would happen the 12th, the 13th, the 14th, the 15th, the 16th, the 17th," said Moussaoui, smiling repeatedly during his three-hour appearance at a sentencing hearing.

"I can go on and on. There's no remorse for justice."

"No regret, no remorse?" asked the prosecutor, Rob Spencer.

"No regret, no remorse," Moussaoui replied "… Every day, until we get you. As they say, 'No pain, no gain'."

[...]

He said the Koran mandated that Muslims rule the world and that he hated America because it had abandoned the gold standard and allowed the rise of Israel and was responsible for misery around the world. Muslims had to kill the Jews and force Christians to pay ransom or be conquered, he said.

Notebook: Moussaoui Own Worst Enemy
At last [defense attorney Gerald] Zerkin asks Moussaoui why he hates America and Americans. The defendant went into a long ramble about the history of the past 1,427 years and how the Jewish state is the "missing star in the American flag." Once he and his Islamic brothers take over this country, they will "exterminate" Jewish-Americans but Christians will be OK as long as they don't fight the Muslims.

Moussaoui takes stand, mocks victims’ families
Zacarias Moussaoui scoffed Thursday at the Sept. 11 families who broke down as they told their tragic stories in court, saying their grief was "disgusting."

[...]

"I find it disgusting that people come here to share their grief," Moussaoui said of Sept. 11 relatives who testified.

"I’m glad their families suffer pain. I wish they’d suffer more pain," he told the jury, which will likely begin deliberating his death sentence next week.

Moussaoui unrepentant during death penalty phase testimony
When the prosecutor asked if he wakes up every day trying to destroy the U-S, Moussaoui replied "to the best of my ability."

Moussaoui: 'No remorse' for 9/11
Subhead: Al Qaeda plotter tells jury of his hatred for Americans

"We have to be the superpower, we have to be above you, and you have to be subdued," Moussaoui said. "You organize the misery of the world."

[...]

"I thought about the consequences of saying I was part of 9/11. I decided to put my trust in my God," Moussaoui said.

"I understand from a non-Islamic view, it is contradictory," Moussaoui explained to Zerkin. "But we will never understand each other."

On the contrary, I believe he has made himself quite understood. It looks clear that he was not moved to kill Americans out of desparation born of "crushing poverty". He was not driven into frustrated, dire action by sublime empathy for put-upon Palestinians, or compassion for any other sort of victim. Although he did parrot standard issue Arab/muslim agitprop about U.S. support for Israel, he made it vividly clear that he's fueled by pure religious/ideological hatred and bigotry to unite with like-minded muslims in a quest for global domination. That's not quite the Marx-compatible tripe that leftists prefer to believe; fortunately, said tripe can't withstand any factual presentation of motive by the enemy themselves.

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. - Sun Tzu

Take it to heart, the man knew what he was talking about. Don't assume that water cooler wisdom or bar stool testimonials will lead you to the truth of who the enemy is - make your own effort to discover what the enemy themself has to say. It's such a trivial effort to make in the information age. I believe you'll find that this enemy does not seek commiseration in desire for a path to amity; it needs obliteration because it shuns amity completely. It's a stain on the human fabric, and if we can't summon the will to remove it, it will seep and spread until the fabric is destroyed.



Sorry, you probably didn't drop by for heavy doom and gloom prophecy, huh? I hope I didn't harsh your weekend mellow. Hey! I bet I know what'll make up for it - some coltish kittens are just the thing! You need Friday Frickin' Cat Blogging!

Awwww! What cherubic little cheetahs!

The family that slays together stays together