Here is another view to add to your collection, written by a
specialist in Middle East culture---people keep sending me these
things !
---Camilla
>
>>>> >UNDERSTANDING BIN LADEN
>>>> >
>>>> >William O. Beeman
>>>> >
>>>> >The United States risks a severe miscalculation in
>>>> >dealing with the destruction of the World Trade Center
>>>> >and the attack on the Pentagon on Tuesday. This event
>>>> >is not an isolated instance of violence. This is not an
>>>> >"act of war." It is one symptom of a cancer that
>>>> >threatens to metastasize. The root cause is not
>>>> >terrorist activity, as has been widely stated. It is
>>>> >the relationship between the United States and the
>>>> >Islamic world. Until this central cancerous problem is
>>>> >treated, Americans will never be free from fear.
>>>> >
>>>> >Merely locating and hunting down a single "guilty
>>>> >party" in this case will not stop future violence: such
>>>> >an action will not destroy the organization of
>>>> >terrorist cells already established throughout the
>>>> >world. Of greater importance, it will do nothing to
>>>> >alleviate the residual enmity against America that will
>>>> >remain at large in the world, continuing to motivate
>>>> >violence. The perpetrators of the original attack on
>>>> >the World Trade Center in 1993 were caught and
>>>> >convicted. This did not stop the attack on Tuesday.
>>>> >
>>>> >The chief suspect is the Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden
>>>> >or his surrogates. He has been mischaracterized as an
>>>> >anti-American terrorist. He should rather be thought of
>>>> >as someone who would do anything to protect Islam. Bin
>>>> >Laden began his career fighting the Soviet occupation
>>>> >of Afghanistan in 1979 when he was 22 years old. He has
>>>> >not only resisted the Soviets but also the Serbians in
>>>> >Yugoslavia. His anger was directed against the United
>>>> >States primarily because of the U.S. presence in the
>>>> >Gulf Regionmore particularly Saudi Arabia itselfthe
>>>> >site of the most sacred Islamic religious sites.
>>>> >
>>>> >According to bin Laden, during the Gulf War America
>>>> >co-opted the rulers of Saudi Arabia to establish a
>>>> >military presence in order to kill Muslims in Iraq. In
>>>> >a religious decree issued in 1998, he gave religious
>>>> >legitimacy to attacks on Americans in order to stop the
>>>> >United States from "occupying the lands of Islam in the
>>>> >holiest of places." His decree also extends to
>>>> >Jerusalem, where the second most sacred Muslim sitethe
>>>> >al-Aqsa Mosque. The depth of his historical vision is
>>>> >clear when, in his decree, he characterizes Americans
>>>> >as "crusaders" harkening back to the Medieval Crusades
>>>> >in which the Holy Lands, then occupied by Muslims, were
>>>> >captured by European Christians.
>>>> >
>>>> >He will not cease his opposition until the United
>>>> >States leaves the region. Paradoxically, his strategy
>>>> >for convincing the United States to do so seems drawn
>>>> >from the American foreign policy playbook. When the
>>>> >United States disapproves of the behavior of another
>>>> >nation, it "turns up the heat" on that nation through
>>>> >embargoes, economic sanctions or withdrawal of
>>>> >diplomatic representation. In the case of Iraq
>>>> >following the Gulf war, America employed military
>>>> >action, resulting in the loss of civilian life. The
>>>> >State Department has theorized that if the people of a
>>>> >rogue nation experience enough suffering, they will
>>>> >overthrow their rulers, or compel them to adopt more
>>>> >sensible behavior. The terrorist actions in New York
>>>> >and Washington are a clear and ironic implementation of
>>>> >this strategy against the United States.
>>>> >
>>>> >Bin Laden takes no credit for actions emanating from
>>>> >his training camps in Afghanistan. He has no desire for
>>>> >self-aggrandizement. A true ideologue, he believes that
> >>> >his mission is sacred, and he wants only to see clear
>>>> >results. For this reason, the structure of his
>>>> >organization is essentially tribalcellular in modern
>>>> >political terms. His followers are as fervent and
>>>> >intense in their belief as he is. They carry out their
>>>> >actions because they believe in the rightness of their
>>>> >cause, not because of bin Laden's orders or approval.
>>>> >Groups are trained in Afghanistan, and then establish
>>>> >their own centers in places as far-flung as Canada,
>>>> >Africa and Europe. Each cell is technologically
>>>> >sophisticated, and may have a different set of
>>>> >motivations for attacking the United States.
>>>> >
>>>> >Palestinians members of his group see Americans as
>>>> >supporters of Israel in the current conflict between
>>>> >the two nations. In the Palestinian view, Ariel
>>>> >Sharon's ascendancy to leadership of Israel has
>>>> >triggered a new era, with U.S. government officials
>>>> >failing to pressure the Israeli government to end
>>>> >violence against Palestinians. Palestinian cell members
>>>> >will not cease their opposition until the United States
>>>> >changes its relationship with the Israeli state.
>>>> >
>>>> >The Mujaheddin fighters in Lebanon also direct their
>>>> >hostility against Israel and the United States. They
>>>> >also operate against the Maronite Christian community
>>>> >in their own country, who were supported by the French
>>>> >from World War I until the end of World War II. They
>>>> >will not cease their operations until the region is
>>>> >firmly in Islamic hands.
>>>> >
>>>> >Above all, Americans need to remember that the rest of
>>>> >the world has an absolute right to self-determination
>>>> >that is as defensible as our own. A despicable act of
>>>> >mayhem such as those committed in New York and
>>>> >Washington is a measure of the revulsion that others
>>>> >feel at our actions that seemingly limit those rights.
>>>> >If we perpetuate a cycle of hate and revenge, this
>>>> >conflict will escalate into a war that our
>>>> >great-grandchildren will be fighting.
>>>> >
>>>> >________________
>>>> >
>>>> >William O. Beeman teaches anthropology at Brown
>>>> >University in Providence, Rhode Island. A specialist on
>>>> >Middle East Culture, he has written extensively on
>>>> >fundamentalism and terrorism. He has worked for the
>>>> >past four years in Tajikistan, where he has been able
>>>> >to monitor developments in Afghanistan.
>>>> >
>>>> >Copyright 2001 William O. Beeman. This article may be
>>>> >distributed for any non-commercial purpose.
>>>
>>
--
Camilla Flintermann, former CG for Peter 83/70/55
Oxford, Ohio
<[log in to unmask]>
on the web at http://www.geocities.com/camillahf/index.html
"Ask me about the CARE list for Caregivers of Parkinsonians ! "
And visit the CARE webring at http://www.pdcaregiver.org
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