E. looked at me wide-eyed that day and asked the inevitable question, "How long do you think before they bomb us?"There's a great deal of sympathy for American suffering in this item, which people who are too defensive about what the US has done there won't take time to read. Hopefully, though, Riverbend's blog is also providing a bit of understanding for a US-centric American readership, who is used to seeing the world news reported just one way: from a perspective of whether or not something benefits us (or our egos) in the short term.
"But it wasn’t us. It can’t be us…" I rationalized.
"It doesn’t matter. It’s all they need."
And it was true. It began with Afghanistan and then it was Iraq. We began preparing for it almost immediately. The price of the dollar rose as people began stocking up on flour, rice, sugar and other commodities.
I know in the US we're big on democracy, but seeing it from Riverbend's eyes, you MUST see how undemocratic the world is. To know that an invasion was coming, regardless of fact, and be powerless to stop it. That was not 'spreading freedom.'
