Last night Chris Matthews did a segment arguing that the 9/11 bombers should not be tried in New York because this will be either a show trial or a forum for the expression of hatred of the U.S. by a group that has made war on us. We’re at war with them, just lop off their heads, he said. His two guests, Pat Buchanan and Ron Christie, agreed.
What I found interesting is that Matthews several times referred to Sirhan Sirhan, Robert Kennedy’s murderer. He said that Sirhan was motivated by our Israel policy (which amazingly was the exact same 40 years ago as it is today: joined at the lip) and that Sirhan represented first, a terrorist organization, and second, a "country."
These are crude ideas. Matthews doesn’t fully understand the issue (unlike American political history, which he has on the inside of his eyelids). But it touches on the Nidal Hasan case in Fort Hood. Hasan is an American. He seems to have been motivated in part by anger over our Israel/Palestine policy–even Foreign Policy agrees with me here. So was the American Sirhan Sirhan. When Arab-Americans become enraged over an imbalanced policy, some wingnuts are going to act out. The 9/11 Commission said that the suicide bombers were motivated by Israel/Palestine, too. Tim McVeigh was motivated in large part by the Waco massacre and the Randy Weaver killings in Idaho. As a result of the Oklahoma bombing, he was executed, but the U.S. made some effort to investigate those earlier outrages.
Earlier this year I said that Sirhan Sirhan’s Palestinian motivation is an underexamined piece of our history. I’m glad Chris Matthews got into it. I hope this leads to a more thoughtful discussion about the costs of the special relationship, not just to our reputation overseas, but among Arab-Americans.
