False

Submitted by Eoin O'Cheallaigh (United Kingdom), Oct 11, 2007 at 04:59

Daniel Pipes seeks to judge the conflict simply on the number of people killed. On this basis, we may dismiss the attacks of 911 as minor. With only 3000 people killed, surely we can relegate this as nothing more than a relatively insignificant event in world terms ?

However the ramifications extend well beyond the dead of that day as is obviously apparent. After 911, a previously sidelined, and illegal, pre-emptive strategy was resurrected by the current US administration and used as justifcation for the war in Iraq (whose deaths, numbered at over 600,000 by the Lancet and other sources is conveniently ignored in this article) and a possible conflict in Iran.

The Arab-Israeli conflict extends well beyond the body count. It polarises world opinion into those who support the illegal occupation of Palestine (US, Israel and the occasional Polynesian token vote) and those who do not (the rest of the World). It inflames, rightly, Muslim opinion and reveals the hypocritical "democratic values" of the US and Israel. To attempt to minimise the importance of this conflict is insulting.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".