When the planes destroyed the Twin Towers and devastated the Pentagon, my reaction was: "What have we done to generate such hatred?" It may not have been a common understanding, but the policies and behavior of the Developed World, especially the United States since it is clearly the leader, seemed designed to generate anger among those who were "left out". It seemed clear that the might of the few would ultimately suffer the consequences of unfairness since no nation "deserves" all it can get.
James Carroll, clearly recognized as an outsider for many,articulates more clearly the same point. The United States may want to see itself an innocent in Iraq, as the government whose intentions were pure, but it does not look that way to many. It is hard to justify the invasion in terms of ridding the nation of Sadam when the consequences are so devastating for the very same people. Millions are refugees, thousands and thousands have been killed, the infrastructure is wrecked, services are relatively non-existing.
How should such victims view us, if not as aggressors?
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