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Don’t Mention The Jihad

Left out of her—and virtually every other—account is any hint that the “Bosnijaks” were ruthless agents of Ottoman oppression or that that they committed unspeakable war crimes during WWII or that their renewed violence and aggression helped to bring on the Bosnian War. Best of all, Ms Walsh seems to know nothing about the active […]

Left out of her—and virtually every other—account is any hint that the “Bosnijaks” were ruthless agents of Ottoman oppression or that that they committed unspeakable war crimes during WWII or that their renewed violence and aggression helped to bring on the Bosnian War. Best of all, Ms Walsh seems to know nothing about the active role played by the Clinton administration in continuing the war. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it,” is the inevitable refrain of American journalists whose knowledge of history comes from Ken Burns’ mockumentaries.

Perhaps young Talovic was deeply affected by the violence he witnessed in childhood—though from experience I have learned to take these refugee stories with handfuls of salt: It is their tale of suffering that has made it possible for them to live in the American paradise. We shall probably never find out what made him tick so loud he ultimately exploded, but that is because we do not want to know. Truth, in America today, is whatever story can be trimmed to fit an historical template created by pop historians, high school civics teachers, news producers, State Department spokesmen—and other propagandists.

It probably does not need saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Political liberty cannot survive in a country in which public “debate” consists of statements made by dishonest law enforcement agencies, a lying and ignorant press corps, and the self-abusing white trash who infest the blogosphere. ~Thomas Fleming

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