Childish Spectators
How bin Laden and the Jews are both responsible for 9/11.

By NR Editors
From "The Week," December 3, 2001, issue of National Review

n his interview with the journalist from the Pakistani newspaper Dawn (assuming it is authentic), Osama bin Laden used a lot of fancy footwork to almost take credit for his attack on the United States. "America and its allies are massacring us in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, and Iraq. The Muslims have the right to attack America in reprisal....We are carrying on the mission of our Prophet, Muhammed . . ." How will these semi-confessions affect the millions of Muslims in the Middle East, and elsewhere, who insist that Israel was responsible for the attacks? Not at all: They will continue to believe 1) that the Jews did it because they are evil, and 2) that Osama bin Laden did it because he is righteous. In the politics of fear and wish, the villains and the saviors are equally omnipotent; the childish spectator believes in both with equal fervor.