>This is basically the same mechanism that is operating in Israel and
>Palestine -- if your side gets hit badly (your military but even
>more so your civilians, and there are quite a few U.S. "civilians"
>-- actually substitute soldiers working for private contractors --
>getting killed in Iraq these days), the gut reaction of most people
>in any country will be to hit back even harder. I don't know why
>people are so puzzled that Americans are reacting this way -- it's
>pure human nature.
Well, yeah, but... "We" aren't the ones getting attacked in Iraq. Our soldiers invaded the country, and Iraqis are trying to blow them up. "We" wouldn't be getting attacked if "we" hadn't gone there in the first place. And it was NYC that was attacked on 9/11, and we (no quotation marks) were among the least bellicose people in the U.S. People in the heartland, who are more likely to get hit by a tornado than a 747 or a dirty bomb, were the ones really out for blood. Human nature is a very plastic thing.
Doug