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To: Steve Lokness who wrote (51699)	7/21/2004 1:58:15 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

For one.. isn't it kind of late for you to respond to those comments I made in 2000, PRIOR to 9/11? Secondly, the "War against Terrorism" is NOT just about Bin Laden.. You're being quite myopic in trying to focus solely upon him.. That's like trying to focus solely upon Yamamoto for the bombing of Pearl Harbor and not recognizing the authority of the system (political, military, and cultural) that brought the Japanese and US into open conflict. Bin Laden is a general.. a wealthy and powerful one in his day.. But the people who taught him his perverse militant version of Islam, who financially and logistically supported him, and continue to attempt to brainwash the minds of tens of millions of Arab youths in the mid-east into adopting fundamentalist and intolerant extremist views are still in place. You can say Bush created the mess, but I would counter that it was first ignored by his father, and then CERTAINLY by Clinton... Bin Laden rose to power in Afghanistan right under their noses. Just as did the rise of militant Islam. This mess has been in the making for over a decade. The very demographics of the mid-east, as well as the economic, political, and social stagnation made it almost inevitable. Look at the demographics Steve.. 50% of the Saudi population is under 18.. They have over 30% unemployment, yet they have some 9 million expatriates running their businesses and technology. Here in Iraq, it's nearly the same situation.. some 60% under the age of 20.. I see it all over the place, in the faces of the Iraqis I come into contact with and the conversations I have with some of them.. They know they have a potentially great country, but their political and economic (as well as property and legal) systems are archaic and rife with cronyism and corruption.. And this is a situation that many of our supposed "allies" permitted to occur... Listen.. to make it short, since I have limited time to respond, you may disagree with this war, and we may both disagree with the false expectations the administration had of the post-war scenario, but the fact remains this... If we don't provide some form of economic and political alternative to the people of the Mid-East, then it's likely that the fundamentalist extremists will gain continued power and respect. And if that occurs, this war is going to go on a long time, and it won't just involve the US. Hawk