Perhaps the best thing that ever happened to the relatively small group of people known as al-Qaeda was the rise to power of George W. Bush, whose brutality, stupidity, and mendacity managed to do an enormous amount to discredit American power and to push those already inclined to be skeptical of the United States further in the direction of hostility and radicalism.Bush clearly caused this "small group of people" to do the following: The bombing of hotels in Yemen aimed at U.S. servicemen and simultaneous attempted attack on U.S. military planes (1992); attempted assassination of Jordanian Crown Prince Abdullah (1993); the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; the "Black Hawk Down" killing of U.S. servicemen in Somalia (1993); the attempted bombing of the Israeli embassy in Thailand (1994);the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Iran (1994); surveillance of Bill Clinton's trip to the Phillipines in anticipation of an assassination attempt when Clinton was to return two years later (1994); bombing of Phillipines Airlines plane (1994); failed attempt to bomb 11 international airplanes simultaneously (1995); bombing in Saudi Arabia killing five Americans (1995); bombing of our embassies in Africa killing hundreds (1998); the attempted Millennium bombing of LA airport (2000); the attack on the U.S.S. Cole (2000); turning Afghanistan and the Pakistani tribal areas into an al-Qaeda sanctuary and launching pad (the late 1980s and 1990s); and the planning stages of the 2001 World Trade Center attack.
Once again, I ask that that liberal bloggers (particularly members of the exalted JournoList) study history, not just their own memories. It's even on Wikipedia and MSNBC.com.
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Thanks for pointing all of this out. The sad thing is though, it doesn't matter to liberal bloggers. History is whatever they think it is.
ReplyDeletePity is Professor, this lack of perspective on the part of most today's progressives, is only being exacerbated by the revisionism being taught in our schools. History..."those who don't know it are condemned to repeat it."
ReplyDeleteThank-you for what you do.
ReplyDeleteThanks, but I'm still trying to figure out what it is that I actually do.
ReplyDeleteIt is what my dad use to call a selective memory. You remember what you wish,or is advantageous to your agenda. It might be part truth,or complete lie, either way it's intent disingenuous.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and keep up the good fight.
OT:
ReplyDeleteSORRY ABOUT THE EFF WORD IN THE BLOGPOST TITLE.
MY COBLOGGER HAS BEEN SEVERLY CHASTISED; IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN.
You know, I heard that George Bush caused the Barbary Pirates to raid all those ships in the 19th Century, too.
ReplyDeleteI don't read anything in Matthew Yglesias' statement that implies Bush caused any of the past events you list. If you read his statement (the one you quote) closely, he merely implies that Bush helped to "push" those "already inclined" "further in the direction" - not that Bush "caused this small group of people" to do anything (certainly with respect to past violence). I don't see the hyperbole and misconception in Mr. Yglesias' statement so much as I do in your blog entry, Mr. Jacobson
ReplyDeleteI'm confused. What part of Yglesias' statement are you refuting or disagreeing with?
ReplyDelete