“It is also ironic that one of the reasons Muslims hate us so, is because of the alien and decadent culture that American movies and television regularly export overseas and which threatens basic Muslim morals and values. Then there is the so-called Hollywood life style: drugs, same-sex marriages, multiple marriages (start counting Fonda’s) conspicuous consumption, and general self-loathing.”

One only needs to take a cursory look at the world to understand that it is not “Muslims” who hate us, and that terrorism is not really rooted in dislike of Hollywood or whatever. For one thing, such a thesis is contradicted by the fact that many countries that are primarily Muslim are allied with the U.S., there are many Muslims living within the U.S., and millions worldwide who have no desire to attack the U.S. or even “hate us”. Also, many Muslims, including suicide bombers and their leaders, consume such Americana happily. And as far as Hollywood, drugs, failed marriage, etc. go, it is just insane to think that people would go to all the trouble of training and give their life because they didn’t like these things, especially in another country. Look at how things are in our country. There are all sorts of people in our country who hate these things, many of them religious fundamentalists with important similarities in worldview to Muslim fundamentalists, and more (like me) who are troubled by many of them. But organizing and conspiring to wage a terrorist war against them makes no sense at all, since each of these problems can be easily avoided (by not watching TV or movies you don’t think you’ll like, by not trying dangerous drugs, by not getting married or working on problems in your own, etc.). The main contributor to suicide terrorism, including that conducted by Middle Eastern Muslims (who don’t actually make up a majority of suicide bombers), is regional turmoil and U.S. foreign policy which has been a major contributor to that turmoil for decades. If we helped Middle Eastern countries and peoples becoming sovereign and democratic and take control of their political lives, and removed our occupations while working towards a standard two-state solution with Israel and Palestine, terrorism would be decreased almost overnight, instead of increased like it has been by our recent military operations.