At around 13/6/06 3:03 pm, Doug Henwood wrote:
> On Jun 13, 2006, at 1:52 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
>> ravi wrote:
>>>
>>> I think Doug wrote something about "Arabs can't fly the plane by
>>> themselves. It requires the Great White father". With all respect to
>>> Doug, I think this critique is a diversion, a [no doubt
>>> unintentional,
>>> if at all] attempt to cast the opponent as a racist, and dismiss his
>>> argument.
>>
>> I do not think it a diversion at all.
>
> Nor do I. George Galloway (pre-reality TV) is very eloquent on this
> topic - hear an excerpt at <http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/
> Radio.html#050922>. He notes that 9/11 conspiracy theories are very
> popular in the Arab world because of an internalized colonial
> mentality that holds that Middle Easterners would be incapable of
> pulling off such a complex operation on their own.
>
Doug,
I am not buying it: white guys (no offense!) suggesting that Middle
Easterners have an inferiority complex because they internalized the
colonial mentality. This is too self-serving an argument, not to mention
racially unfair in its own sense (similar to "blacks have a victim
mentality", "Chomsky is a self-hating Jew", etc).
Further, it is too elaborate an explanation when Ockham's Razor should
lead us to more parsimonious ones including the simple: this is too
complex an operation for *any* small, unskilled set of individuals to
pull off. Does this mean it couldn't have happened? Highly improbable
things succeed, so perhaps this is one of those. Does it mean Cheney was
the mastermind behind the attack? Perhaps in some "conspiracy theories".
But as noted, psycho-analysis, exploration of motives, personalities,
etc., are ultimately no substitute for direct answers.
For the record: I do not believe, at this point, the U.S govt or
political elite was directly involved in any way in the events of 9/11.
--ravi
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