> Hardly. However, I think the views expressed on the LBO list are read
> mainly by Americans and no doubt include those who skim leftist lists to
> find "proof" that leftists are callous about the legitimate interests and
> feelings of the public in general. I have consistently been of the opinion
> that the US set itself up for the 9/12 attack through the reckless,
> imperialistic foreign policies we have pursued for so long. Still, I
> recognize that it is both crass and pure folly to stand around braying the
> Chickens Have Come Home to Roost -- a message that, in blunt form anyway,
> will just disgust the American public and further marginalize the left.
>
> For that practical reason as well as simply decency, it is critical to
> acknowledge the WTC attack as a complete horror and state unequivocally that
> none of the thousands who died in that attack deserved such a terrible fate.
I have been raising issues about the foreign policy record of the United States in the region from the first day after the WTC attacks. I sent out articles from the Left press to all kinds of people who aren't the usual suspects. A few of them were quite hostile, but the majority seemed interested in reading articles and essays that looked at what the U.S. has been up to in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
I've been pretty pleased by the Left's effort to raise uncomfortable issues. The fact that so many right wingers and neoliberals are attacking Chomksy and others, demonstrates that we have some important things to say about American power.
One can point out that the chickens have come home to roost without braying about it. One can point this out in a sober fashion that takes into account that the people killed in the attacks did not deserve their murder. It has not been my impression that the radical left has been dominated by a *smug* attitude that "America got what it deserved."
Chuck0