It has become a cliché to note that the Islamist killers have proven remarkably adept at corrupting Western technology; turning its power for creativity into a force of destruction. In his memoirs, Bin Laden’s right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahri shows how they also pervert our ideologies, viewing democracy not as a noble ideal but as a rationalization for indiscriminate murder: Bin Laden Aide Justifies Terror.

Terrorist attacks on Western civilians are justified because they live in democracies and are directly responsible for government policies that anger Arabs, Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant implies in the latest excerpt of his memoirs.

In the passages that appeared Tuesday in the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Ayman al-Zawahri says the West understands only “the language of self-interest coupled with oppressive power.”

“If we want to make them understand our rights we have to speak to them in the language they understand,” he said. …

In his memoirs, al-Zawahri accuses the West of the “crime” of creating Israel.

“In undertaking this crime, the Western countries were supported by their people. Those people enjoy the freedom of decision …. In the end, they vote in elections to choose the governments they want, then pay taxes to willingly finance their policies,” he said.