>What would the world think if Mr. Sharon displayed a revolver and
>then attempted to strike one of his ministers at a Cabinet meeting?
>
>Why do Palestinians shoot machine-guns up into the air at funerals
>and Israelis do not?
>
>Why do supporters of Israel in America rarely castigate their
>country for giving money to Egypt, Jordan, and Mr. Arafat, while
>supporters of the Palestinian authority here always damn the United
>States for giving commensurate aid to Israel?
>
>Why do Middle Easterners become far more enraged at Israelis for
>shooting hundreds of Muslims than at Iranians, Iraqis, Jordanians,
>Syrians, Indians, Algerians, Russians, Somalis, and Serbians for
>liquidating tens of thousands?
>
>If nearly two-thirds of the Arabic world believe that Arabs were not
>involved in September 11, why should any American believe anything
>that two out of three people from that region say?
>
>Will Palestinians cheer when Saddam Hussein launches chemical-laden
>missiles against Israel when we invade his country?
>
>Why after half a century has the Saudi government suddenly now
>decided to enter the negotiations about Palestine?
>
>If Iran launched missiles of mass destruction against Israel, would
>the EU do anything?
>
>If North Korea attacked South Korea, would the EU do anything?
>
>If someone blew up another 3,000 Americans, would the EU do anything?
>
>Has anyone made an inventory of the all the goods, services, and
>equipment that France has sold to Iraq since 1991?
>
>If Johnny Walker Lindh is not charged with betraying his country,
>what precisely does an American have to do to commit treason?
>
>Has anyone heard a Muslim in the United States condemn September 11
>without employing the word "but?"
>
>Why do spokesmen for groups that have the words "ethical", "humane",
>"amnesty", "fair" and other such words of kindness appear so unkind
>in public interviews?
>
>Why are most of the talking heads on television who are ex-military
>men direct, honest, polite, and rarely self-absorbed, while the
>academic pundits usually stutter, lose their cool, and say inane
>things "one could imagineŠ" and "as it were"?
>
>How can training someone for four years to lead men into battle make
>one a more effective speaker and thinker than someone prepped for
>five years in graduate school to teach in the university and write?
>
>Why do six billion people in the world conclude that the US military
>is the most deadly and effective armed force in the history of
>civilization when the American media who covers it does not?
>
>How much annual income and time off does one have to garner to
>oppose automatically almost everything the United States has done
>since September 11?
>
>I know that there are properly nuanced answers to these questions
>that touch on issues of pragmatism, national security, statecraft,
>requisite education, and other such abstract considerations. But
>millions of us Americans, I think, wonder about them nevertheless -
>and just maybe we are not so crazy after all.