A Voice Of Reason

Beyond knee-jerk reactions, Chris Hedges, apparently off the cuff & transcribed:

We responded exactly as these terrorist organizations wanted us to respond. They wanted us to speak the language of violence. What were the explosions that hit the World Trade Center, huge explosions and death above a city skyline? It was straight out of Hollywood. When Robert McNamara in 1965 began the massive bombing campaign of North Vietnam, he did it because he said he wanted to “send a message” to the North Vietnamese… a message that left hundreds of thousands of civilians dead.

These groups learned to speak the language we taught them. And our response was to speak in kind. The language of violence, the language of occupation… the occupation of the Middle East, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been the best recruiting tool Al-Qaida has been handed. If it is correct that Osama bin Laden is dead, then it will spiral upwards with acts of suicidal vengeance. And I expect most probably on American soil. The tragedy of the Middle East is one where we proved incapable of communicating in any other language than the brute and brutal force of empire.

Yep, they suckered you Americans right in, didn't they? And you fell for it like the proverbial sack of rocks that is shorthand for the level of your intelligence.