by Mary H. Cooper

About the author: Mary H. Cooper is a staff writer for the CQ Researcher, a weekly news and research report published by Congressional Quarterly, Inc.

Shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, President George W. Bush posed a question that was undoubtedly on the minds of many stunned Americans. “Why do they hate us"” he asked the nation in an address before Congress.

“They hate what they see right here in this chamber—a democratically elected government,” he continued. “They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.”

Anti-American Sentiment

Hatred of American democracy may help explain what drove 19 young Arab men to turn four commercial airplanes into weapons that killed...