The Big Picture from the Big Suit

David Byrne Journal: 7.22.06: Blowback

(C)ommentators have pointed out that previous Israeli invasions and “security measures” all but created — as in gave popular support to — both Hamas and Hezbollah, just as recent U.S. policies in the “war against terrorism” has had the effect of serving as a recruiting poster for anti U.S. causes. Similarly, the “war against drugs” in Latin America — a policy that was perceived locally as an attack on poor rural farmers rather than on drug kingpins — might also be seen as the seed that grew into the current wave of anti-American leaders and popular sentiment. The blowback isn’t always immediate or an exact mirror of the policy or action — it sometimes takes years to manifest and may pop up in wildly unexpected forms.

Cause and effect being so esoteric a concept that we cannot possibly expect those with the power to make war to understand it.