Of traitors, and wilful ignorance
An article by Paul Krugman makes some points that I have been thinking about for a while...
But there's something broader going on: a sort of willful ignorance, supposedly driven by moral concerns but actually reflecting domestic politics. Surely it's important to understand how others see us, but a new, post 9/11 version of political correctness has made it difficult even to discuss their points of view. Any American who tries to go beyond "America good, terrorists evil," who tries to understand — not condone — the growing world backlash against the United States, faces furious attacks delivered in a tone of high moral indignation. The attackers claim to be standing up for moral clarity, and some of them may even believe it. But they are really being used in a domestic political struggle.
and
Which brings me back to my starting point: we'll lose the fight against terror if we don't make an effort to understand how others think. Yet because of a domestic political struggle that seems ever more centered on religion, such attempts at understanding are shouted down.
Trying to understand a person, a culture, a political movement, a terrorist orgaization, doesn't equate to supporting them. In fact, I don't think that terrorism can ever be erased if there aren't major efforts made at understanding where the terrorists are coming from, both in detail and in the larger picture.
But maybe the "war on terror" has other motives than removing terrorism as a threat to the world. That goal seems to be eluding the warriors so far, anyway.