Carter, the religious extremists are not confined to a single country or culture, as can be shown by the increase in fundamentalist believers even in the U.S. Different philosophies tend to be adopted by cultures throughout the world, wherever there is contact between the cultures. One can see amazing parallels between certain kinds of thinking in the Middle East and Europe going back at least to the 17th Century.
I studied Arabic language and history as an undergraduate and spent several years working in muslim countries; notably Tunisia, Turkey, and Indonesia. What we are seeing is not so much fundamentalism or extremism as it is simply a manifestation of a tribal camel raid that has been part of these nomadic or seminomadic cultures for at least three thousand years. It's sort of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a license to get revenge, even if it means killing innocent civilians. In the old days of the camel raids, the victorious men enslaved the wives of the defeated tribe. Muhammed did a lot to prevent this practice by declaring that the wives could not be enslaved, but a man could have up to four wives if he treated them equally. This was, given the time and the cultural traditions, a great improvement.
The current version of the camel raid takes the form of a terrorist act against innocent civilians. The perpetrators understand perfectly well that retaliation, even if it results in the loss of innocent civilians, is now justified. If the U.S. is able to determine involvement of bin Laden and his group in any part of this disaster, the U.S. would be justified in demanding that the host countries deliver these people for trial in an international court on charges of genocide. If the host countries refuse, they cannot expect to be treated with deference. From my experience, the most conservative Arab/Muslim cultures would understand and condone such action.
It should have been done with regard to finishing the action against Sadam Hussein in the Gulf War. It should be done now, but only after it has been determined who is to blame.
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