Comprehending Bin Laden

The Frontline interview with Dr Saad Al-Fagih
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/interviews/
al-fagih.html#alqaeda

shared through
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/messages
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) http://www.nhne.com/
which I found in message # 2437 of
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TYR/messages
which is an excellent source of news on a spectrum of topics
and I shared it with NSDMG & non-technical midrange discussions

I have read through this several times, trying to put it in perspective.

This article raises more questions than it answers.
It sounds to me that we have someone who hates the USA with a passion, and is
trying to justify that hatred through reason, in much the same way as an
earlier generation justified racism and anti-semitism.

Watching various TV shows, it is evident to me that many young people (ages
approx teenager to 40's) are struggling to understand the hatred that would
lead to Sep 11, while a lot of people could care less WHY, they just want
retribution, and very few are discussing what can be done to end the cycles
of hatred.

For those who want to know WHY, this article had an opportunity to clarify,
bur failed to do the job.  There is definitely a mentality problem here.

Bin Laden has certainly invited a Jihad of non-Muslims against himself and
his followers by the USA and her allies.  Understanding a phenomena does not
end the Jihad.  Bin Laden is perceived, by those who look up to him, similar
to how Saddam of Iraq thinks he is perceived, as a rebel with succcess
defying America.  Both of them have a lot in common with Hitler.  Charisma
can be used to help good people like JFK, and it also helps some evil people.

It is incredulous to me that anyone would seriously accept this arguement
that Bin Laden is an Environmentalist of the Middle East where the leaders of
the area nations do not believe in the principle.

I see many of the problems in the 3rd world as being exacerbated by the Cold
War.

I believe that most of us in the West agree that the Cold War was not started
by us, it was started by the Soviet Union first treating the "liberated"
nations of Central Europe the same despicable way that the Nazis had
oppressed them, then seeking to subvert other nations around the world to do
the same thing to them.  The West had the choice of taking the approach they
did take, or waging WW III against the Soviets, but our fathers &
grandfathers did not have the stomache for that.

Do these people have a serious alternative, or do they believe that the best
solution would have been to nuke the world, or are they truely ignorant.  I
believe they are truely ignorant.

Is there a view out there that the Soviet behavior was the fault of the West,
that the West should not have opposed it, or that there was a way to win the
Cold War using less morally repugnant methods than supporting 3rd world
dictators?

I have heard it argued that the West sold out Central Europe to Stalin at
Potsdam, which is a fair arguement, but given the perspective that the West
might not have comprehended how evil Stalin was, and the very real
possibility that the Axis might have won WW II, I don't see how the West had
much choice.

Human Rights have been a cornerstone of US Foreign Policy since founding of
UN & role played by Eleanor Roosevelt, but it has become more important in
the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement & then the administration of Jimmy
Carter.  Not all political leaders have equally emphasized this, but I cannot
think of a single nation whose diplomatic record of promoting international
Human Rights has been superior to that of the USA.

I have a hard time comprehending a line of reasoning that in the name of
persuading USA to promote more Democracy around the world is by declaring
Jihad agaiinst the USA.

Had the USA overthrown the leaders of these dictatorships, such as the Shah
of Iran, in the name of replacing them with a form of government that is
democratic & respects the human rights of the people, do you think these
people would have thanked the West for doing that, or would they be bitching
about the West interfering in the private affairs of their country?

I don't understand how the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan is
interpreted as a window created by America.

And as for Bin Laden's offer to rescue the Middle East from Iraq's invasion
of Kuwait & threat to Saudi Arabia, it almost sounds to me as he is secretly
an ally of Iraq.  No way could his army of guerrillas has stopped the
Republican Guard from taking over the Middle East, in the absense of the US
led alliance.

Were the arms of the Saudis & Kuwaitis twisted to request the assistance of
the rest of the world?  I think not.

The West in the Cold War needed to rally support of whatever nations were not
communist, regardless of the nature of those governments, most of which were
dictatorships, not treating their people in accordance with standards of
human rights important to us, but the bigger issue was winning the Cold War,
which we did.  This meant that several generations of people grew up in these
dictatorship run countries, without good access to education about the
history of the Cold War.  They are truely ignorant that the Soviet Union &
their own national histories are responsible for their plight, not America.

The dialogue should be
How do peoples grow into civilized nations?
How can civilized nations help other peoples get that way?

It should not be ... we are all screwed up ... blame some other country ...
try to get even with them.

Your country is all screwed up.
How come that is USA fault and not the fault of your people?

It was all screwed up before the Cold War began.  How come that is USA fault?
Please explain the history to me, of what the USA did, to cause your country
to be in the mess you portray.

I remember the movie Laurence of Arabia.  Did that movie falsely portray your
ancestors as lacking in the skills to manage a nation?  How was that the
fault of USA and Europe?  And even if there was some manipulation of your
forefathers by the Turks & Europenas to cause you to be all screwed up, how
does a Jihad war of terrorism hope to repair your path to Civilization?

MacWheel99@aol.com (Alister Wm Macintyre) (Al Mac)