One of the litanies of the "see no evil except in the actions of the U.S." Left (the Noam Chomskys, Susan Sontags, Molly Ivins of the world) is that the September 11th hijackers were motivated to commit their horrific attacks by a number of factors either directly or indirectly attributable to U.S. action or inaction. These factors include the widening gap between the wealthy and poor of the world which allegedly creates an environment without hope for citizens of the Third World and breeds despair and desperate fury. Another factor is the support from the U.S. that allows undemocratic, corrupt governments to stay in power in order to advance U.S. interests which creates resentment and hatred towards the U.S. The fact that the U.S. is allied with Israel which occupies territories acquired through war and has displaced much of the native population is also cited as a legitimate reason for against the U.S. And finally the cultural and economic "invasions" by U.S. commercialism of these poor countries has led to a justifiable backlash whose most extreme form we witnessed on 9/11.
According to the radical Left, these are the causes behind 9/11 and similar terrorist actions against the U.S. and, if we want to know why or look for someone to blame, we had better look in the mirror first.
I was mulling this over last week while sitting in a hotel room in Chihuahua, Mexico and scratching my head. If one is to accept that these are the conditions that led to the terror of Al Qaeda and other groups (a big stretch considering that most of the 9/11 hijackers came from backgrounds of privilege not poverty and none were Palestinians, etc.), then why has there not been a Mexican Jihad against the hated Norte Americanos? (referring of course only to the U.S.--Sorry Canada as usual you're quiet irrelevant in this discussion.)
Consider that while Mexico has made great strides in recent years, it remains a pretty damn poor country. Unemployment is high, many people still go hungry or live in the streets but instead of wanting to come to the U.S. to blow up buildings, Mexicans want to come to the U.S. to build them. Or clean them. Or whatever other job they can find. Hmmm...
Although the U.S. probably wasn't too crazy about the oppressive PRI governments that ruled Mexico for most of the last seventy years, it certainly did not push very hard for real reform and, in the '60s and '70s, tended to look the other way when the military cracked down on dissident Leftist groups. During the last decade, Mexico has become a much more democratic country with the end of the long reign of the "elected" PRI governments, although corruption is still rampant, but the U.S. was hardly a major factor in these changes. And yet the Mexican people today are not resentful and bitter towards the U.S. for the all these years of not supporting real democracy in their country. Hmmm...
And if you really want to start talking about occupied territories from the perspective of the radical Left, what is a more striking example than California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, all seized militarily from Mexico by the U.S.? (Technically speaking Texas gained its independence from Mexico by rebellion and then became an independent republic for a brief time before joining the U.S. Just ask any Texan and they'll tell you more than you ever want to know about it.) But, other than some tongue in cheek talk of a "reconquistda" of the area through Mexican immigration, the Mexicans seem to have by and large accepted the fact that this land is gone and it's not coming back to them. Why no intifatah? Hmmm...
Finally no country has probably been so overwhelmed with U.S. commercialism than Mexico. U.S. chain restaurants are everywhere. U.S. movies play in all the theaters. U.S. goods are sold everywhere and anywhere. You can't walk ten feet without seeing a Coke or Pepsi sign. But, instead of being repelled by the stories of Walt Disney as Mohammed Atta was, Mexicans embrace the Disney characters (as well as Looney Tunes for that matter) and, rather than seeking to destroy the symbols of American business, they are far more likely to try to emulate them. Hmmm...
So there I was at a loss for an explanation. Then I thought I'd check on the various religions in Mexico. I was unable to find one conclusive answer, but apparently the Muslim makeup of Mexico is listed as "less than 1 percent" according to one source or "numbers several hundred" according to another. This is out of a population of some 105 million people. But this isn't about religion right? Hmmm...
