In Reply to: So the stated beliefs aren't enough? posted by cliff on Tuesday, 11. October 2005 at 02:44 Bali Time:
I have never seen a message from Al-Qaida et. al. saying they're pissed off over a couple of million deaths. Firstly:
There aren't a couple of million deaths to get pissed off ABOUT.
Also, I have NO idea what you are talking about regarding these countries - Lybia, Iran, Jordan, Syria. The USA hasn't done anything to these countries. On the other hand, much worse has been done to them by their own leaders.
Regarding Iraq, the amount of civilians dead at the hands of the US is very low. Nearly all have been killed by the insurgency.
And in Afghanistan, same story.
Any deaths that have been caused are just a fact of war, and also have freed two entire nations from the terror of cruel and despotic regimes. The people of Iraq are grateful. The people of Afghanistan are grateful. The citizens of both nations say this over and over in opinion polls etc. Are you willing to listen and dump your anti-US prejudices?
Get the facts straight.
These are the reasons they give:
1) Military bases (you're right on that one)
2) Separation of Muslim land from the Islamic State (Eg. Spain and East Timor.)
3) A global call to arms to the Ummah (world-wide body of Muslims) to overthrow Big Satan and Little Satan. (USA and Israel.)
Mat.