Didn't Alterman leave out the quotes from Brezinski in L'Observateur in which he claimed the purpose of US policy in Afghanistan in the late 1970's was to make the Soviets more likely to invade Afghanistan? That quote alone seems to make Alterman's thesis a pretty weak one i would think. In any event, what is Alterman trying to get at, that there is no relation between our 1980's Afghanistan policy and the falling of the WTC bldgs? Or that people in the anti-"war on terrorism" camp are claiming that there is a direct causal relationship, as in , "A-->B ? Gimme a break, that's as true as his claim that there's a significant "hate America" left opinion that actually shares the Taliban's disdain for things like civil liberties, social justice struggles, etc. etc. Alterman can be really interesting sometimes, but these strawmen he's making arguments against are unfortunately just that...Why is he making such weak arguments?
Steve
On Sun, 28 Oct 2001, Luke Weiger wrote:
> http://thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20011112&s=alterman
>
> Excerpt:
>
> "The news of the covert program has provoked considerable confusion among
> those who seek to blame the United States for the September 11 massacre.
> Proponents of an overly schematic "blowback" scenario, including at least
> one vocal supporter of the Soviet "rape" of Afghanistan, have seized
> Brzezinski's comments to claim that Osama bin Laden is merely one of
> America's "chickens coming home to roost." This is both simplistic and
> obscene. Blowback exists in absolutely every aspect of life, because nothing
> comes without unintended consequences. Does it make sense to blame the
> destruction of the World Trade Center on a $500 million nonlethal aid
> program that took place more than twenty years ago? We cannot even know for
> certain why the Soviets decided on their invasion."
>
> Even though I think the all involved would've been better off if the Soviets
> were able to maintain their stranglehold on Afghanistan, I find much to
> agree with in the preceding paragraph.
>
> -- Luke
>
>
>
>