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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: George Coyne who wrote (201916)	11/12/2001 5:35:31 PM
From: Walkingshadow	Respond to of 769670

Hi George, Thanks, and thanks for the response. I agree with you that this will be a tough nut to crack, but there are precedents that make me hopeful nonetheless. One of these is Saudi Arabia and the Arab Emirates. Were it not for oil and our hand-in-glove relationship with these nations because of the global oil economy, I suspect that politically all would be positioned far closer to Hussein and Bin Ladin than they are. There are other examples that similarly give me hope for a long-term solution here. And I agree that the church/state merger is a real problem. This makes me even more convinced than ever of the profound wisdom underlying our Bill of Rights and our form of government. Furthermore, I am concerned that there has been a significant groundswell movement among Muslims worldwide towards more fundamentalism and eradication of the church/state boundaries. This appears to me to be only partially accounted for by the traditional have/have-not confrontation that is historically a constant. Rather, it appears to in part be related to a fundamental change in populist Muslim thinking towards the right, or maybe more accurately, retrothinking. Either way, it presents real problems, but not, I pray, insurmountable ones. And you are right about the ruling elite, which by and large don't give a camel's ass for the well-being of the masses, are corrupt to varying degrees, and have insufficient checks on their power, leading inevitably to abuse of that power and popular discontent that can be misdirected at the "great satan." Regards, Walkingshadow