> there is also a lot of truth in the fact that most American deaths at the hands of terrorists had little connection to Israel or the Palestinians.
Well, let's see what Osama has to say about this. Here are some quotes from Osama bin Laden. It seems clear that the Israeli connection is very big on his mind. So I think the connection is a lot bigger than has been given credit for.
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We declared jihad against the US government, because the US government is unjust, criminal and tyrannical. It has committed acts that are extremely unjust, hideous and criminal whether directly or through its support of the Israeli occupation." - Osama bin Laden - to CNN in March 1997
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So we tell the Americans as people, and we tell the mothers of soldiers and American mothers in general that if they value their lives and the lives of their children, to find a nationalistic government that will look after the interests and not the interests of the Jews.
The continuation of tyranny will bring the fight to America, as Ramzi Yousef and others did. This is my message to the American people: to look for a serious government that looks out for their interests and does not attack others, their lands, or their honor. And my word to American journalists is not to ask why we did that but ask what their government has done that forced us to defend ourselves. It is our duty to lead people to the light."
---Muslim leader Osama bin Laden from the May, 1998 interview of by ABC reporter John Miller
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Bin Laden and other militant Islamist leaders issued a 1998 manifesto denouncing the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia, U.S. support of Israel, and sanctions against Iraq. “To kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military, is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able, in any country,” the manifesto reads, “until their armies, shattered and broken-winged, depart from all the lands of Islam.” Bin Laden regards Western institutions—coed schools, MTV, Rotary clubs, democracy itself—as depraved.
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When did bin Laden begin to consider America his enemy?
In the 1980s, bin Laden disdained America for its alliances with Israel and moderate Muslim states, but it was the Gulf crisis that crystallized his hatred. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, bin Laden wanted Arab veterans of the Afghan war to help the Saudi army defend Saudi Arabia. He saw the arrival of American troops to confront Saddam—and the continued U.S. military presence in the Gulf after the war—as a violation of the sanctity of Muslim territory.
terrorismanswers.com
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"To kill Americans and their allies, both civilian and military, is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able, in any country where this is possible, until the Aqsa Mosque in Jersalem and the Haram Mosque in Mecca are freed from their grip and until their armies, shattered and broken-winged, depart from all the lands of Islam." -- From the Feb. 23, 1998 edition of Al-Quds al-Arabi (Arab Jerusalem),
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"With regards to reports among Americans that 'Usamah is threatening to kill civilians.' Well then, what are they killing in Palestine? They are killing children, not only civilians, but children as well. Our enemy, the target that gives Muslims the opportunity to do so--is every American male, whether he is directly fighting or paying taxes." --
From a June 10, 1999 interview in Afghanistan with Osama bin-Ladin by Muslim journalist Salah Najm. |
