Damned If We Didn't, Damned 'Cause We Did

When it comes to offering excuses for terrorist atrocities, Muslims and the Left now have company. Via Harry's Place, quoting the U.K. Telegraph:

Dominic Grieve, the shadow attorney general [a Tory], said few politicians yet appreciated the sense of anger and alienation felt by many Muslims in Britain. He said the London suicide bombings were "totally explicable" because of the deep sense of anger over the Iraq war, a wider despair about the Islamic world and what Muslims saw as a "decadent" western society.

"Totally explicable." Wow.

If Muslims do not want to live in (Western) countries they consider decadent, well, fair enough. Surely there are many alluring places in Asia and North Africa they could move to.

As for the London bombings being the "totally explicable" comeuppance for Britain's participation in the Iraq war: Nothing, nothing the West could have done with regard to Iraq would've satisfied radical Muslims and their apologists. After all, there were really only three scenarios, all no-wins.

(1) Deal with Saddam Hussein as just another mildly unctious head of state, politely disregarding the man's stunning abuse of his own people. Muslims and their friends on the Left denounced such a see-no-evil approach as the West propping up a (barely Islamic, and many believed un-Islamic) dictator.
(2) Impose an economic boycott on Iraq. Been there, done that, got yelled at. The charge became that we were killing local children by depriving them of vital medication and other necessities. Our Muslim friends were, once again, furious.
(3) Invade Iraq, depose Saddam, begin to build a semblance of democracy. For the record, I was against the war (the invasion was premature and wrongheadedly "pre-emptive"), but the other two options were barely more palatable. Needless to say, much of the Muslim world was and remains drunk with anger after the West exercised this option.

Something tells me that Mr. Grievance Grieve would have been just as jaw-droppingly understanding about Islamist terror in his hometown if we'd stuck with scenario one, or two. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Of course, he deserves to be pitied, not mocked. Stockholm Syndrome is a terrible mental affliction — in this case, potentially lethal not just to the sufferer himself, but to all of Western society.

Comments

[Mark S.]

How is the deliberate targeting of civilians a "totally explicable" response to the grievances of Arabs living in Britain?

Perhaps then, in response to 9/11, we should have deliberately targeted Afghan civilians for not rising up against the Taliban.

I'm not a big fan of the Iraq war, especially since the WMD claim has largely shown to be bogus, but the rhetoric on the subject has reached a deafening level of dumbness that I can't help but criticize. I find it impossible to support vapid statements even if, in the end, they support my stance on an issue. I do not want stupidity in my corner.

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com

search "london bombings" for some interesting information with regard to the perpetrators of said bombings.

[Dave W.]

(4) Deal with Saddam Hussein as we deal with the oppressive regime in China (or North Korea or Myanmar or 1980s S. Africa), correctly condemning the regime's stunning abuse of its own people. Take a see-the-evil approach so the West will not be perceived as propping up a dictatorial regime.

Option 4 would have been the way to go.

[steven streight aka vaspers the grate]

The terrorists are crybaby bullies who attack women, children, unarmed civilians.

Like the bullies in the schoolyard who pick on children smaller than them.

Cowards with covered faces, these walking toilets are redefining the phrase "dumbed down".

They use Islam as an excuse to kill. They simply like blowing things up.

Marginalized in Britain? Recall the blacks in America: they were treated as sub-human, but did not resort to terrorism.

But there is no war on terrorism anywhere. If there were, we'd be told to conserve gas and Arab oil, to walk more, carpool, ride a bicycle. That's how to strike back.

Saudis attacked us on 9-11.

What a wonderful world, where everybody hates everybody else, the MSM lies about everything, and politicians brainwash us into thinking that government is necessary, when it's just a delusion perpetrated by The Powers That Pretend To Be.

Hee Haw!