A few weeks ago I wrote this post. In it, I made some comments which upon reflection were unfair and stereotypical. Here’s what I said:
The purpose of this war is to make the Arabs quit hating us. Some will say that our action in Iraq will only create more hatred; I say to them that they were already pretty angry.
I should not have said that all Arabs hate us. Or that that all Arabs were pretty angry with Americans. Obviously, only a small minority of Arabs believe in the militant practices of Al-Qaeda.
An anonymous poster pointed this out at the time, and upon reflection, he was right. I apologize.
The point is not whether all Arabs hate us, or even some. It’s whether our actions are increasing Arab (Islamic) anomosity towards the US, and/or if our actions in Iraq and other theaters of military operations are making Americans more safe, or less safe.
By the way, I enjoy your blog. I was a journalism graduate student at Marquette University in Milwaukee in the 80s.