Senator Patty Murray made a speech Wednesday in which she said
Of course she is wrong about poverty being the cause of OBL’s popularity. OBL has wide support in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, two of the richest countries on earth.
She’s also wrong about the US not having helped the needy people. Afghanistan has received more foreign aid from the US than from any other country. The US gives large sums to Palestinians. I would guess that US foreign aid goes to other poor Muslim countries as well.
Maybe the reason many Muslims prefer OBL to the US is a US Senator* tells them to do so*. :wally
ISTM that a sitting Senator ought to be aware of American foreign aid. And, to make such a wrong-headed, anti-American statement when she has to run for office in two years suggests she may a cup of espresso short of a Starbucks.
The fact that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are wealthy nations does not mean that the residents of those nations are wealthy.
Bin Laden and his like (the charismatic mullahs and zealot Islamist leaders) have been a direct and real presence in the lives of many poor Arabs. The US has not. Senator Murray made no claims that the US has not given aid to poor Arabs. But she does acknowledge that the aid we give is impersonal and in the minds of many poor Arabs offset by perceived US imperialism and aggression. Had the US been a more personal force in the lives of poor Arabs for the past several decades, the dangers posed by the charisma of men like ObL would have been lessened.
I just realized the OP left out the link. Here it is.
If Patty Murray had said what you did just did, andros, it would have been a smart, helpful point. But, she actually said, "We haven’t done that [built infrastructure, day care facilities, and health care facilities].
“How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that rather than just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan?”
As I read it she criticized the US for* not providing civilian aid*, rather than for* not publicizing the civilian aid we do provide*.
Indicidentally, the Wall St. Journal disputes the amount of aid provided by al Qaeda:
I take your point about rich countries having many poor citizens. However, the 9/11 hijackers were not poor.
andros, it’s too bad that you can’t just replace Murray as Senator. You make so much more sense than she does.
You alleged that “Senator Murray made no claims that the US has not given aid to poor Arabs. .”
In fact, she said, “He’s been out in these countries for decades, building schools…roads…infrastructure…day care facilities… We haven’t done that.” That sounds like she’s saying we didn’t build this sort of facility. I suppose her words alow the possibility that we’ve paid for these things, but not literally built them. But, she never said that. Furthermore, that favorable interpretation would be false, according to Glenn Reynolds, who says we DID build roads. And, the money is the important thing, anyhow. If our money went to local laborers who built the facilities, that ought to be just as good as if Americans doing the construction work.
You wrote, “But she does acknowledge that the aid we give is impersonal and in the minds of many poor Arabs offset by perceived US imperialism and aggression.” I see your point. She does discuss the perception in Arab minds. However, she never said that the Arab perception is incorrect. That leaves the impression that she agrees with it.
This is an interesting survey of Congressional staffers, picking the best and worst of Congress in various categories. Sure enough, Patty Murray was chosen #1 Senator in the NO ROCKET SCIENTIST category.