THANKS TO the recently leaked National Intelligence Estimate, Americans now know that the jihadists are angry with the West because of the liberation of Iraq from dictator Saddam Hussein, followed by the imposition of democracy on Iraqis, enticing millions to vote despite the jihadists’ threats.
This is helpful to those of us who thought militant Islamists were actually upset due to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, $70-a-barrel oil, Danish cartoons, the pope’s speech, reversal of Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait, Salman Rushdie, Hollywood, the Crusades, women in bathing suits, gays, expulsion of the Moors from Spain, Western decadence and American destruction of the World Trade Center, then falsely charging that 19 Arabs committed that heinous crime.
Perhaps in their next leak, they’ll explain why Sunnis, Shiites and other irate Muslims convey anger with America by blowing up mosques and brutally massacring each other.
John R. Cohn, Philadelphia
John R. Cohn, MD, Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, is a member of the Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Board of Directors.