"Terrorists hate us for our freedoms."
That's a lie, of course. But it's the convenient position many (conservative) Americans embrace so that their anti-Muslim sentiment appears justified and their consciences remain clear in the so-called War on Terror.
Glenn Greenwald of Salon has written an article that examines the empirical evidence and shoots a gigantic hole in the "they hate our freedoms" meme:
In 2004, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld commissioned a task force to study what causes Terrorism, and it concluded that "Muslims do not 'hate our freedom,' but rather, they hate our policies": specifically, "American direct intervention in the Muslim world" through our "one sided support in favor of Israel"; support for Islamic tyrannies in places like Egypt and Saudi Arabia; and, most of all, "the American occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan" (the full report is here). Now, a new, comprehensive study from Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political science professor and former Air Force lecturer, substantiates what is (a) already bleedingly obvious and (b) known to the U.S. Government for many years: namely, that the prime cause of suicide bombings is not Hatred of Our Freedoms or Inherent Violence in Islamic Culture or a Desire for Worldwide Sharia Rule by Caliphate, but rather. . . foreign military occupations.
You can't tell any of that to many conservatives , however; the facts are irrelevant. I guess Hitler's homeboy was right: A lie repeated enough becomes the truth.
Read the full article at the Salon website.