ADDICTED TO WAR -- WHY THE U.S. CAN'T KICK MILITARISM (UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE WAR IN IRAQ)

Chapter 4: The "War on Terrorism"

After the horrific September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, one question was so sensitive it was seldom seriously addressed by the U.S. news media.

[Little boy asks mom:] Mom, why did they do it?

To find out, it makes sense to ask the prime suspect himself. As U.S. warplanes began bombing Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden released a videotaped message. He praised the September 11 attacks and called for more attacks on the United States. Then he spelled out his motivations quite clearly.
 

"What America is tasting now is something insignificant compared to what we have tasted for scores of years. Our nation (the Islamic world) has been tasting this humiliation and degradation for more than 80 years. Its sons are killed, its blood is shed, its sanctuaries are attacked and no one hears and no one heeds. Millions of innocent children are being killed as I speak. They are being killed in Iraq without committing any sins ... To America, I say only a few words to it and its people. I swear to God, who has elevated the skies without pillars, neither America nor the people who live in it will dream of security before we live it here in Palestine and not before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad, peace be upon him." (Osama bin Laden, Oct. 7, 2001) [72]

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