Robert, you've nicely described the character and underpinnings of bin
Laden but as I and others have conveyed (not all but you don't, I don't
think, qualify this) it is not him and his fellow "fanatics" that are in
question here. I've just watched three Muslim scholars interviewed, and
they, along with others that I have read and watched, seem to be in
unanimous agreement, the US has lacked the humility, the integrity, and the
consistency in applying our ideals (instead rather there is lots of
hypocrisy), in dealing with Muslim countries as a whole, to garner us any
respect or any possibility for friendly relations and trust. Instead,
again, because of our superiority complex, arrogance, and overt
self-interests in the region, we are resented and hated by many. I think a
useful comparison can be made with our war in Vietnam. In large part we had
little success in that war (of course it was a ridiculous war anyway but to
make a point...) because we did not win the "hearts and minds" of the South
Vietnamese. That is, because we had little respect for their culture,
looked at them in an inferior light, and put in place puppet governments,
most of the people we were supposedly alied with had little but disregard
or animosity for us.
In terms of our present situation, and this may be too simplistic I admit,
I just can't help but feel that if we had a good relationship with the
Muslim countries this horrible, large scale terrorist attack would not have
happened. Why? Because the terrorists that committed these acts would have
had no place to go, literally or figuratively. Also, I've read recently
that other countries may have helped finance these attacks. If that is the
case, then better, friendly relations would also strip these terrorists of
the needed resources to mount such a complex and costly attack. This later
point I am not as sure of since as we all know bin Laden is independently
wealthy and, it would seem, would not need financial support, though the
logistics involved in this would require more than just money.
And finally, as I mentioned earlier, if I and others are correct about all
this, _not seeing it_, will ensure that we continue on the same path and
perhaps thus ensure a greater potential for future tragedies to occur.
Best,
Reagan
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