Al Qaeda - Who are they, really?

[rainonlevs]

The Bush administration maintains that terrorists like Al Qaeda "hate us for our freedoms," and that they will continue to attack us until we destroy them. I find this an overly vague and disfunctional explanation of the origins and motivations of a group that threatens our national security

Comments

redirection and misdirection

[madisonmassage]

The origins and purpose of al qaeda are very complex. The people of the middle east have been living under dictatorships for generations. The governments strictly restrict religious freedom, freedom of the press and limit economic mobility. As the median income of teh average middleeasterner has been falling steadily for decades the level of dissatifaction has been increasing. To offset the public unrest many of the governments have activly supported religious chools and institutions which blame the west for all of these problems. It was a strategy that worked very well until 9/11. The governments didn't shut down the schools or limit the religous leaders who were calling for jihad against the west because it wass a very effective tool to redirect discontent

Re: redirection and misdirection

[rainonlevs]

So how do you see the factors that you mentioned affecting Osama bin Laden specifically? Was he dissatisfied due to drops in his income?

Re: redirection and misdirection

[madisonmassage]

Osama was the one child in a family with 50 children, undervalued with little chance to become a controlling influence in the bin laden empire. He latched on to islamic extremism early in his life as a way to find purpose. Some of bin laden's first influences were teh Al Thagher teachers, members of the muslim brotherhood. At the time bin laden studied under them they were actively promoting the use of violence to move the governments of the middles east back to islamic law

Re: redirection and misdirection

[rainonlevs]

Okay, so how did Osama end up in Afghanistan? Did he just fly over there to study with Muslim Brotherhood buddies? Was he working for someone? Was he representing family business interests in the area when the Mujahadeen started up?

I think you are right that the bin Laden money and connections protected him and gave him the support he needed to step forward as a leader. So where did that money and connections come from? What is his family business and what poured those millions of dollars into it?