Alex McComb

December 5, 2017

The Politics of Rage: Why Do They Hate Us?

Why do the terrorists hate Americans? Some believe it could be jealousy while others

believe envy. The United States is a strong, rich country that stands for freedom. These reasons

alone can not be why. There are billions of poor and helpless people around the world and they

arent blowing themselves up to kill Americans or flying airplanes into buildings. A stronger

force is what we are dealing with. What is that force that would make men kill and also die?

Osama bin Laden believes the answer is religion. A holy war between Islam and the

Western world exists, although most Muslims disagree. Bin Laden and his followers are not

considered a cult. They belong to an extremist group that uses religion to justify the killing of

people and urge men to commit suicide. Their culture reinforces their distrust, hostility and

hatred of the West, specifically America. The problem lies with the millions of people across the

Islamic world that agree that this is a religious war against America.

Gamal Abdel Nasser stabilized the power in Egypt and the achievement of the Arabs

dreams of independence was within reach. He believed the politics needed to be focused on

modern ideas. The Middle East was excited about becoming modern. Even with all the energy

directed towards the modernization, it failed. Bad ideas and incorrect implementation led to the

failure.

The Arab world is a desert with no real political parties, no free press, and few avenues

for conflict. The mosque (church) turned into the place people discussed politics. Organizations

within the mosque have provided social services, counseling, medical assistance and temporary
housing. Islamic fundamentalism is a group that jumps in to provide social services when the

state or government fails.

Most Arabs feel that relations with the United States have been filled with misfortune.

They believe that the American policy is geared to Americas interest in oil. Many Arabs do not

like Saddam Hussein but believe that the United States has picked an inhuman method of

fighting him. An entire nation is starving from this method.

The major component to the battle is a cultural strategy. Islam needs the help from the

United States to enter the modern world. It sounds impossible but America faces a security

threat that will not go away until we stop the economic, political, and cultural destruction that

lies at the bottom of Arab rage.