Mumbai: So Now It's Our Fault

If you ask New Age guru Deepak Chopra why terrorists went on a killing spree in Mumbai last week he won't point to existing tensions between India and Pakistan and the conflict over Kashmir, he won't point to the existence of fanatical Islam that blinds little girls in Afghanistan or hangs gays in Iran. No, the self-annointed "spiritual adviser" points the finger at Western policies, specifically the war on terror led by the U.S.

An opinion piece in yesterday's Wall Street Journal sheds light on the latest case of scapegoating America in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.

"What happened in Mumbai, he [Chopra] told the interviewer, was a product of the U.S. war on terrorism, that 'our policies, our foreign policies' had alienated the Muslim population, that we had "gone after the wrong people" and inflamed moderates. And 'that inflammation then gets organized and appears as this disaster in Bombay.'"

So now it's our fault that India's institutionalized poverty breeds terrorists; now it's our fault that India and Pakistan have been in a nuclear arms race and it's certainly our fault that Jews and Muslims have been at each other's throats for millenia.

What, then, Mr. Chopra, should the U.S., who still seems to be the go-to-guys when the world needs a'fixin', do to prevent these sorts of attacks both on our soil and abroad? Especially when the war on terror is futile and, in your words, "an oxymoron?"

Barack and Hillary have their work cut out for them.