Sunday, September 26, 2004
Interesting interview with Pervez Musharraf in the Washington Post. Not a lot of new ground, really, but we hear that Musharraf and Bush communicate regularly and keep in touch on War on Terror issues. Also, Musharraf traces much of the terrorism problem and support for bin Laden to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The old "root causes" argument.
I agree to an extent, actually, although I think we may disagree as to what the root causes of the I/P conflict itself are. The trouble is that both the I/P conflict and terrorism generally have similar root-causes, so they overlap each other. Among them are the concept of dar al Islam and the difficulty Arab Muslims seem to have in compromising or in being minorities, the promulgation of Jew-hatred and Holocaust denial, Arab Muslims' seeming troubles in building functioning civil societies, their almost universal curse of corrupt leadership (particularly true with regard to the Palestinian Arabs), their sense of shame - on and on. Saying the I/P conflict is the root cause is...reaching for a metaphor here...a bit like saying the cracks in the dam are the reason the town is in danger of being flooded when the fact is that the dam is cracking because of the rain and the hurricane. You have to do something about the wind and rain before you start blaming the engineers. Bad analogy I'm sure, but the point is that if you want to solve the I/P conflict, then you have to address the "root-causes" of that issue, too. "Give the Palestinians what they want" is an easy standard for Musharraf to live up to, his responsibility toward the safety of the Israeli people is completely different from what any democratically elected Israeli leader could possibly risk - or even an undemocratically elected leader who didn't want his throat cut.
And what is it, exactly, that "the Palestinians" (And which Palestinians? The people or their corrupt leaders? And what of outside forces who want no such solution?) want? If it can be determined, can it be given? Let's look for clues.
'The Extremists Dislike Me' (washingtonpost.com)
We are in constant contact, and we cooperate on the intelligence side. President Bush knows what is happening. The strategy is coordinated. The meeting was just a review of the world situation, but there is a total understanding [between us].
...
Do you think the war in Iraq was a good idea, and how do you think it has affected the area?
I think it has complicated the situation in the Islamic world. It has increased the opposition to the U.S. in the Islamic world.
What can be done about this?
Close down fronts. You have opened too many fronts, [such as] the Palestinian front. The Palestinian front is affecting the entire Muslim world. All terrorist and militant activity in the world today has been initiated because of the Palestinian problem. Who do you think is carrying out the suicide attacks? This is because of the sense of hopelessness, alienation and powerlessness. Who gave rise to Hamas and Hezbollah? They are all a result of the Palestinian conflict.
If Israel gave the Palestinians what they wanted, do you believe the conflict would stop?
Yes, it would wind down. If the road map were executed on both sides, the Muslim world would recognize its rights.
Do you believe the aim of al Qaeda is to overthrow the moderate governments in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and, for that matter, any Muslim government brave enough to support the West? Doesn't Osama bin Laden aim to put radical governments in moderate Muslim countries?
If you examine how al Qaeda came into existence, you'll find that the root is the Palestinian struggle. As for 9/11, the start point happens to be the Palestinian struggle...
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What a full of shit liar.
Al Queda came into existence due to the dominance of the West, Russia in Afghanistan, US in Saudi Arabia, Chechnya and the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
And John Loftus details how Al Queda is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood which was initially educated by the Nazis, then helped by our CIA in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and later Afghanistan.
The Muslim Brotherhood has been around a long freekin time.
Everyone wants to discuss the 'root causes' but no one wants to talk about the root causes of the 'root causes'...
The problem is that what are called the 'root causes' aren't root causes at all. They are simply symptoms of the real root cause, which is cultural/religious/ideological hatred caused by a combination of a feeling that having the 'one true way' should make them the masters and the realization that they aren't even in the running for equals.
The CIA had an opening for an assassin. After all of the background checks, interviews, and testing were done there were three finalists - two men and one woman. For the final test, the CIA agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun.
"We must know that you will follow your instructions, no matter what the circumstances. Inside this room you will find your wife sitting in a chair. You have to kill her." The first man said. "You cant be serious. I could never shoot my wife!"The agent replies, "Then you?re not the right man for this job."
The second man was given the same instructions. He took the gun and went into the room. All was quiet for about five minutes. Then the agent came out with tears in his eyes. "I tried, but I cant kill my wife." The agent replies, "You dont have what it takes. Take your wife and go home."
Finally, it was the womans turn. Only she was told to kill her husband. She took the gun and went into the room. Shots were heard, one shot after another. They heard screaming, crashing, banging on the walls. After a few minutes, all was quiet. The door opened slowly and there stood the woman. She wiped the sweat from her brow and said, "You guys didnt tell me the gun was loaded with blanks. So I had to beat him to death with the chair."