Why Are They Killing Us?

I did a post here and Carla did one over at Preemtive Karma on The American Conservatives interview with Robert Pape on what motivates suicide bombers. Well Pat Buchanan weighs in over at LewRockwell.com today. Buchanan's piece is largely a re-hash of what Carla and I covered in the links above but I think the final paragraphs are worth repeating. (Buchanan and I don't agree on much but we would probably both agree he's a better wordsmith than I am.)

"Since suicide terrorism is mainly a response to foreign occupation and not Islamic fundamentalism," says Pape, "the use of heavy military force to transform Muslim societies ... is only likely to increase the number of suicide terrorists coming at us."

What Pape is saying is that the neocons' "World War IV" -- our invading Islamic countries to overthrow regimes and convert them into democracies -- is suicidal, like stomping on an anthill so as not to be bitten by ants. It is the presence of U.S. troops in Islamic lands that is the progenitor of suicide terrorism.

Bush's cure for terrorism is a cause of the epidemic. The doctor is spreading the disease. The longer we stay in Iraq, the greater the number of suicide attacks we can expect. The sooner we get our troops out, the sooner terrorism over there and over here will end. So Pape says the data proves. This is the precise opposite of what George Bush argues and believes.

"Bush's cure for terrorism is a cause of the epidemic."
Indeed, well said Pat.