Why do they hate us? That's the question that has been often asked, but never truly answered, for the past seven years.

Anyone who has read "Dangerous Nation" by Robert Kagan, "Blowback" (et. seq.) by Chalmers Johnson, and "American Armageddon" by Craig Unger knows the answer, and it's not what some claim.

They don't hate us because of our freedom; they couldn't care less.
They don't hate us because of religion; that's merely a tool used -- make that "abused" -- by their leaders.
They don't hate us because of our wealth -- exactly.
They don't hate us because of our power -- exactly.

Syngman Rhee
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ferdinand Marcos
Suharto
Reza Pahlavi
Saddam Hussein
Fulgencio Batista
Jean-Claude Duvalier
Manuel Noriega
Augusto Pinochet

What do these people have in common? Every one of them was a murderous and incompetent dictator whom we put and/or kept in power because he temporarily served some short-term, short-sighted policy objective.  read more »