That's not what is happening here.

The loss of life was awful and the violence is inexcusable but who is to blame? There's no way the terrorists can escape blame. Only a fool would argue that point; but how could our government have avoided it? Did anyone (besides me) see it coming? Was it really unprovoked?

Return with me to the daring days of yesteryear; to Versailles. The Ottoman had just been defeated. Arabs had sacrificed so much to drive the Turk from their land. (read Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence or see Lawrence of Arabia; its pretty accurate.) Representatives of several Middle-Eastern nations went to Versailles to establish their nationhood. They were ignored and watched as England and France carved up their lands. U.S. president, Woodrow Wilson, signed the deed.

Iraq refused to cooperate. Britain sent troops and, in reprisal,  cut Kuwait from Iraqi territory. Do you see what's happening here?

1948: Britain turned over to a provisional Jewish government the land of Palestine; a land which was not theirs to give. Jews had been living in Islam for 2,000 years with few problems. (It was Christians that continually persecuted Jew, not Muslims.) This began the first real conflict between Arabs and Israelis.

Forward to 1953. A budding democracy in Iran elected Mohammed Mosadek as president. His first act was to stem the flow of oil money out of his country. Oil would benefit the Iranian people not make a few Englishmen (British Petroleum) rich. Now I don't know how the C.I.A. got involved (their fingers are in so many pies) but they orchestrated a fake insurrection (testimony from the Church commission) and had Mosadek chucked out. The Shah, Ali Reza Palavi, was installed by Eisenhower and a thirty-year reign of terror began. (Now you know why they call us the Great Satan.)

Meanwhile in Palestine, Israel invaded Palestinian territory, began to settle Jews there and they remain there to this day. Palestinians, who had become second-class citizens in Israel, now became second-class citizens in the bit of their own country that was left to them. I won't list all the atrocities that followed. If you don't know by now, you haven't been reading the news.

In the 80s, the U.S. (Reagan) began supporting Saddam Hussein and his Bath party. When Hussein took office, democracy was finished in Iraq. The U.S. has never been comfortable with democracies anywhere. I think because "the people" are difficult to deal with. Its much easier to deal with a dictator. You just have to find his price. Saddam Hussein's price was 50 billion dollars in military aid (to be used against Iran). If anybody remembers, Reagan was also shoveling weapons into Iran (to be used against Iraq).

The Gulf War: Its still going on. We bomb occasionally but the real damage is not against Saddam Hussein but against the Iraqi people. Over a million civilians have died from the ravages of our embargo; a majority of those, children.

Also in the 80s, the U.S. was working in Pakistan; building up the Mujehadin to fight the Soviets and their government in Afghanistan; In the process, creating the Taliban and establishing the position of Osama bin Laden. After the defeat of the Soviets, the U.S. went away; job done. Or was it?

We also support Turkey which has an awful human rights record and is busy right now slaughtering Kurds.

America has been all over the Middle-East, destroying democracy and tuning over the control of precious oil to any convenient Sheik who would play the game our way regardless of the effect on their people.

There is no army on the planet powerful enough to oppose America. What's left to do? Terrorism. If we are going to put an end to terrorism we have to take away their overriding motive: the disastrous effect of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle-East.

Personally, I'd like to see some of the U.S. policy-makers charged with "terrorism" as well.

Meanwhile, the war goes on. -Rico.