Does anyone else think it's ironic that when his CIA handlers helped bin Laden fight Soviet occupation he was called a 'freedom fighter'? In those days, we lauded people like bin Laden for their resolve-- some have even given them credit for toppling the Soviet Union itself. However, now that he's decided to turn against his former sponsors, he's a 'terrorist'.
Of course, during those days, the lunatic right-wing fringe known as the Reagan Administration counted a lot of murderers and war criminals among its friends and called them 'freedom fighters.' But the fact remains that in a lot of places in the world where people don't have luxury SUVs and trendy courier bags, the United States is thought of as the greatest terrorist state currently in existence. And no, I'm not talking about the plutocrats and oligarchs in those countries who sell out to IMF blackmail and use U.S. aid and weapons to oppress their own peoples. Nor am I talking about multinational corporations who benefit from U.S. sponsorship of brutal dictators because they provide a 'friendly environment for business', meaning no environmental laws, no labor laws, no public infrastructure etc. I'm talking about those hundreds of millions of people who scrape by on less than $2 per day and who have only seen the America that talks hypocritically about peace and cooperation but goes to war over oil interests.
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Does anyone else think it's ironic that when his CIA handlers helped bin Laden fight Soviet occupation he was called a 'freedom fighter'? In those days, we lauded people like bin Laden for their resolve-- some have even given them credit for toppling the Soviet Union itself. However, now that he's decided to turn against his former sponsors, he's a 'terrorist'.
Of course, during those days, the lunatic right-wing fringe known as the Reagan Administration counted a lot of murderers and war criminals among its friends and called them 'freedom fighters.' But the fact remains that in a lot of places in the world where people don't have luxury SUVs and trendy courier bags, the United States is thought of as the greatest terrorist state currently in existence. And no, I'm not talking about the plutocrats and oligarchs in those countries who sell out to IMF blackmail and use U.S. aid and weapons to oppress their own peoples. Nor am I talking about multinational corporations who benefit from U.S. sponsorship of brutal dictators because they provide a 'friendly environment for business', meaning no environmental laws, no labor laws, no public infrastructure etc. I'm talking about those hundreds of millions of people who scrape by on less than $2 per day and who have only seen the America that talks hypocritically about peace and cooperation but goes to war over oil interests.