By liberal masochism, I suppose he means choosing to focus on how U.S. depredations in the world helped to bring 9-11 about. I don't think you can fault him for bias in that realm, however, since besides his record of criticism he also tosses out the $43 million thing.
To a some extent there is less a disagreement in principle than a question of artfulness of expression. Some radicals naturally put a priority on the weakening of the U.S., no matter what else beckons, and some even did so in the context of WWII. I wouldn't call that masochism, but a principled, profoundly wrong position. Some put a higher priority on the safety of innocents than the reliability (in terms of justice or simple accuracy in targeting the guilty) of retribution. I agree that's a legitimate concern, but how you say it, the emphasis you give it, says a lot more besides. The potential for masochism is there.
Today the vibrations I get are for the danger of a wider, less well-founded, more dangerous military mission, including deliberate invasion of certain Arab states for the purpose of occupation and establishment of pro-U.S. governments. Iraq is at the top of the list.
mbs
What "liberal masochism" is Hitch talking about? I've seen precious little of it in the corp press; and those (like the fine sturdy folk of LBO-Talk) who have made the obvious link between US policy and the bloody reaction to it are not blind to the pre-modern nature of the perps, nor have they excused the terrorist attack or tried to play it down. I think Hitch is having a political (personal?) identity crisis. He's not sure how to approach this, and I wager that he doesn't want to be caught on the "wrong side" of history again, as I'm sure he felt he was when he first opposed NATO's bombing of Belgrade, then, after conferring with Gens. Sontag and Reiff, came out fully for it. Will he do the same if the US starts pounding the Muslim world? Will he frame it in faux-radical terms (the Cockburn, "if ever a country deserved rape, it's Afghanistan," stance)? Or will he just toss it all aside and become our Peregrine Worsthorne? Tick, tock. Tick, tock . . . . DP