Perhaps the massive bomb
blast on the Indonesian island of Bali will cause some second thoughts — or
perhaps first thoughts — by those who blamed the United States for having
provoked the September 11th attacks by its actions and policies in the Middle
East. Very few of those killed in Bali were Americans. What had all the
Australians, Swedes, etc., done in the Middle East to provoke such terrorism
against innocent tourists?
Recently Pakistani Christians were killed in a terrorist
attack in Pakistan. What did Pakistani Christians have the power to do, even in
Pakistan, much less in the Middle East?
In this era of non-judgmental mush, too many Americans
have become incapable of facing the brutal reality of unprovoked hatred, based
on envy, resentment and ultimately on a vicious urge to lash out against others
for the pain of one’s own insignificance. That has been a common thread in
things as disparate as ghetto riots, two world wars, and now Islamic
terrorism. [Thomas Sowell’s
Full column]
