question, revisited

I remember in the two or three years after 2001, one of the biggest debates policy makers and academics were trying to answer was "why do they hate us?" At the time, theories ranged from hatred of US's freedom to US's questionable and secretive involvement in Middle East affairs. It is a question that needs to be approached once again, but with revised answers and lessons learned.

In the absence of action from the US or UN on Israel's offensive on Gaza, the rhetoric of war is threatening to change, from a political question of Israel and Palestine to a religious issue of Muslims' victimization. Osama bin Laden's recently released tape calling for a jihad against Gaza aggression will not be taken seriously in terms of action. Indeed, Gordon Johndroe, Whitehouse spokesperson, called the tape a part of an Al-Qaeda "propaganda campaign". However, if not for the jihad, bin Laden's message about moral responsibility does and probably will resonate across the Muslim world.

The problem with this should be clear: questioning morality blurs political complexities of a highly-emotional conflict such as this. Already, the vacuum created in the lack of action against Israel is becoming filled by others - namely Iran, also, ironically, the biggest threat Israel and US deem as the reason for this offensive. And surprise, surprise, rather than a cease-fire and peace negotiations, Iran's tactics have tended more towards encouraging Hamas to stand the fight. Meanwhile, Hezbollah is leading the offensive against Israel with rocket fires that will probably worsen the situation than alleviate it. The last thing the US needs, or can afford, is to justify the existence of Hamas and Hezbollah. But right now, they are the only groups who are actively opposing the killing of more than a thousand Palestinians. And, I imagine, promoting another cycle of political activism in the ME led by groups of questionable Islamic interpretations, and consequently blurring the real problems in many ME states. If not for humanitarian reasons, then the US should act against Israel's current offensive for its own future security. It is at a time like this when the US should be concerned with understanding where it has gone wrong and why "they" hate us.