If the muzzieshits would quit trying to kill everyone else (and themselves too) and forcing their shariashit on everyone perhaps we might just stop killing them. Every time a muzzieshit dies it is the sole fault of that shit-filled hate and death worshipping cult called islamoshit and their idiotic book that is only readable after a dog has peed on it to make it smell better.
On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 12:34 PM, M. Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > *The New ForeignPolicy.com > <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/>*Global > News<http://globalnews.foreignpolicy.com/>: > Passport <http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/> : > Ricks<http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/>: > Drezner <http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/> : > Walt<http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/>: > Rothkopf <http://rothkopf.foreignpolicy.com/> : > Lynch<http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/> > The Cable <http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/> : The AfPak > Blog<http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/>: Net > Effect <http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/> : Shadow > Govt.<http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/>: Madam > Secretary <http://hillary.foreignpolicy.com/> : The > Call<http://eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/> > > > > *Why they hate us (II): How many Muslims has the U.S. killed in the past > 30 years?*Mon, 11/30/2009 - 12:38pm > > [image: []] > > Tom Friedman had an especially fatuous column > <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/opinion/29friedman.html?_r=1&em>in > Sunday's *New York* *Times, *which is saying something given his > well-established capacity for smug self-assurance. According to Friedman, > the big challenge we face in the Arab and Islamic world is "the Narrative" > -- his patronizing term for Muslim views about America's supposedly negative > role in the region. If Muslims weren't so irrational, he thinks, they would > recognize that "U.S. foreign policy has been largely dedicated to rescuing > Muslims or trying to help free them from tyranny." He concedes that we made > a few mistakes here and there (such as at Abu Ghraib), but the real problem > is all those anti-American fairy tales that Muslims tell each other to avoid > taking responsibility for their own actions. > > I heard a different take on this subject at a recent conference on U.S. > relations with the Islamic world. In addition to hearing a diverse set of > views from different Islamic countries, one of the other participants (a > prominent English journalist) put it quite simply. "If the United States > wants to improve its image in the Islamic world," he said, "it should stop > killing Muslims." > > Now I don't think the issue is quite that simple, but the comment got me > thinking: How many Muslims has the United States killed in the past thirty > years, and how many Americans have been killed by Muslims? Coming up with a > precise answer to this question is probably impossible, but it is also not > necessary, because the rough numbers are so clearly lopsided. > > Here's my back-of-the-envelope analysis, based on estimates deliberately > chosen to favor the United States. Specifically, I have taken the low > estimates of Muslim fatalities, along with much more reliable figures for > U.S. deaths. [image: []] > > *To repeat:* I have deliberately selected "low-end" estimates for Muslim > fatalities, so these figures present the "best case" for the United States. > Even so, the United States has killed nearly 30 Muslims for every American > lost. The real ratio is probably much higher, and a reasonable upper bound > for Muslim fatalities (based mostly on higher estimates of "excess deaths" > in Iraq due to the sanctions regime and the post-2003 occupation) is well > over one *million, *equivalent to over 100 Muslim fatalities for every > American lost. > > Figures like these should be used with caution, of course, and several > obvious caveats apply. To begin with, the United States is not solely > responsible for some of those fatalities, most notably in the case of the > "excess deaths" attributable to the U.N. sanctions regime against Iraq. > Saddam Hussein clearly deserves much of the blame for these "excess deaths," > insofar as he could have complied with Security Council resolutions and > gotten the sanctions lifted or used the "oil for food" problem properly. > Nonetheless, the fact remains that the United States (and the other SC > members) knew that keeping the sanctions in place would cause tens of > thousands of innocent people to die and we went ahead anyway. > > Similarly, the United States is not solely to blame for the sectarian > violence that engulfed Iraq after the 2003 invasion. U.S. forces killed many > Iraqis, to be sure, but plenty of Shiites, Kurds, Sunnis, and foreign > infiltrators were pulling triggers and planting bombs too. Yet it is still > the case that the United States invaded a country that had not attacked us, > dismantled its regime, and took hardly any precautions to prevent the > (predictable) outbreak of violence. Having uncapped the volcano, we are > hardly blameless, and that goes for pundits like Friedman who > enthusiastically endorsed the original invasion. > > Third, the fact that people died as a result of certain U.S. actions does > not by itself mean that those policy decisions were wrong. I'm a realist, > and I accept the unfortunate fact that international politics is a rough > business and sometimes innocent people die as a result of actions that may > in fact be justifiable. For example, I don't think it was wrong to expel > Iraq from Kuwait in 1991 or to topple the Taliban in 2001. Nor do I think it > was wrong to try to catch Bin Laden -- even though people died in the > attempt -- and I would support similar efforts to capture him today even if > it placed more people at risk. In other words, a full assessment of U.S. > policy would have to weigh these regrettable costs against the alleged > benefits to the United States itself or the international community as a > whole. > > Yet if you really want to know "why they hate us," the numbers presented > above cannot be ignored. Even if we view these figures with skepticism and > discount the numbers *a lot, *the fact remains that the United States has > killed a very large number of Arab or Muslim individuals over the past three > decades. Even though we had just cause and the right intentions in some > cases (as in the first Gulf War), our actions were indefensible (maybe even > criminal) in others. > > It is also striking to observe that virtually all of the Muslim deaths were > the direct or indirect consequence of official U.S. government policy. By > contrast, most of the Americans killed by Muslims were the victims of > non-state terrorist groups such as al Qaeda or the insurgents in Iraq and > Afghanistan. Americans should also bear in mind that the figures reported > above omit the Arabs and Muslims killed by Israel in Lebanon, Gaza, and the > West Bank. Given our generous and unconditional support for Israel's policy > towards the Arab world in general and the Palestinians in particular, > Muslims rightly hold us partly responsible for those victims too. > > Contrary to what Friedman thinks, our real problem isn't a fictitious > Muslim "narrative" about America's role in the region; it is mostly the > actual things we have been doing in recent years. To say that in no way > justifies anti-American terrorism or absolves other societies of > responsibility for their own mistakes or misdeeds. But the > self-righteousness on display in Friedman's op-ed isn't just simplistic; it > is actively harmful. Why? Because whitewashing our own misconduct makes it > harder for Americans to figure out why their country is so unpopular and > makes us less likely to consider different (and more effective) approaches. > > Some degree of anti-Americanism may reflect ideology, distorted history, or > a foreign government's attempt to shift blame onto others (a practice that > all governments indulge in), but a lot of it is the inevitable result of > policies that the American people have supported in the past. When you kill > tens of thousands of people in other countries -- and sometimes for no good > reason -- you shouldn't be surprised when people in those countries are > enraged by this behavior and interested in revenge. After all, how did we > react after September 11? > > > http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/11/30/why_they_hate_us_ii_how_many_muslims_has_the_us_killed_in_the_past_30_years > > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at > http://www.PoliticalForum.com/<http://www.politicalforum.com/> > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
