al-Qaeda and Taliban

[Dennis Perrin]

> CB:  I don't know whether you pay much attention to what I say on this
list, but if so , you won't be surprised that I am with > the Viet Namese in
this comparison with the Taliban and al-Qaeda , who are anti-Communists and
were allies of the >Americans ( at least al-Qaeda's founders were). The
Taliban and al-Qaeda are politically reactionary.
>
> However, the issue here is nuclear warfare, and I don't think that T and Q
are suicidal just because they are reactionaries.
> So, blurting out that T and Q would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons
and would be indifferent to nuclear retaliation and >annihilation of their
own peoples is an irresponsible thing to say in the current very dangerous
circumstances. I mean it is >dangerous in the sense that it might contribute
to the American people tolerating a nuclear attack by the U.S.

I don't think they're suicidal because they're reactionary; I think they're
suicidal because they're suicidal. I shouldn't have to point to the two jets
that slammed into the Towers, the one that hit the Pentagon (or didn't, if
you go with certain posters), and the one that crashed in Pennsylvania, do
I? Nor should I have to remind you of al-Qaeda's grand dream of a Wahabbi
Islamic state that does battle with the decadent West. No, not every member
of the Taliban or al-Qaeda is suicidal (certainly not bin-Laden, alas), but
this is part of the program. When you are promised Paradise when dying for
the Holy Cause, what'll stop you from crashing a civilian plane into a
packed building, or running into machine gun fire with no hope of survival?
I trust that, like me, you are pleased to see so many reactionaries bite the
dust in the previous week. No?

DP