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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (60273)	12/7/2002 6:47:24 AM
From: Noel de Leon	Respond to of 281500

Some thoughts on Al-Qaeda. 1) Stems from poverty(if everyone had hot water and 3 meals a day then Al-Qaeda would disappear). Not very convincing. Supporters of Al-Qaeda are religious young men with access to education and economic means. Nothing indicates that the extremely poor or desperate are open for terror against the west. If the argument is valid then a solution lies in having the Middle Eastern countries take part in globalization (for many generations). 2) Stems from the fact of Israel. Does anyone think that Al-Qaeda will stop its activities if Israel were to cease to exist? Not likely. The argument is a powerful one when recruiting people to anger against the west but not an explination as to why Al-Qaeda exists. 3) & 4) later, guests are back from their walk.

To: JohnM who wrote (60273)	12/7/2002 10:19:15 AM
From: Noel de Leon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

3) Attacks on American embassies and discos are part of a fight against undemocratic allies in the Middle and Far East. The real targets are the house of Saud and Murabak but it is easier to hit their protector- USA. Does anyone believe that withdrawing support from these regimes will stop Al-Qaeda from its terror attacks. I don't. 4) The destroyed states of Somalia and Yemen are the best places for the growth of Al-Queda type terrorists. That is an explanation for why Al-Qaeda type terrorists can operate but not why they exist. If Somalia and Yemen could fight Al-Qaeda and defeat them then it would be difficult for Al.Qaeda to operate but not impossible. In fact Al-Qaeda is a rich and tough criminal organization that is not affected by the present power structure. It is similar to other criminal organizations such as the mafia in as much as its economy is generated, in part, by drugs and whitewashed money, but is different in that it has an ideology. That ideology, an unusually perverse form of Islam, is the only rational explanation of the terror attacks on NYC, East Africa, South-East Asia, and the Middle East. Looking at the positive side there are very few states that are interested in co-operating with Al-Qaeda in order to gain an advantage in a local conflict. In addition there are very few people, also in the Middle East, who really support the network's terror attacks. Therefore the important factor is to separate the problem into 2 distinct areas: A) Work for peace, democracy, and improved standard of living in the Middle East and Africa. B) Hit Al-Qaeda as hard as possible with all available means. Right now Bush II is doing neither.