Most people known to be associated with the terrorist activities come from the privileged or middle classes - they have money, education, social connections, they travel abroad, and study in foreign universities. Could you please explain how they are "oppressed."?
I now write:
Quite frequently "terrorists" of whatever ideological persuasion are well-educated and come from the "privileged" classes -- from Russian anarchists of the late 19th Century (many of whom were children of landowners) to members of the Weathermen, the RAF, the Red Brigades, etc. in the late 1960's and 1970's (many of whom descended from "professional middle class" -- sorry, Carrol -- stock). While they may not derive from "oppressed" social backgrounds, "terrorists" claim act to on behalf of the downtrodden masses, who are too befogged or too cowed by state power to act on their own. In this sense the Sept 11 suspects perfectly fit the standard profile of "terrorists." While this observation does not in any sense morally excuse their actions, it does underscore the notion that in no way were the Bin Ladenists unusually "irrational."
John Gulick