Afghan war dead?

[Peter K.]

>This is utter bullshit.  If you read the actual statements and writtings
>made by Al-Qaeda supporters they justify it not because those killed
>were "infidels" but because it was retaliation for Muslims killed by the
>US.  This is explicitely stated.  We don't have to guess at what
>al-qaeda is thinking - they'll tell us (and have).  The first thing to
>remember when discussing what Al-Qaeda memebers are thinking is that
>their worldview/outlook is not the simplistic characature portrayed on
>CNN.  If Al-Qaeda wanted to maximize casualties they'd have crashed into
>nuclear plants, not the Pentagon.  Show me one statement in which Bin
>Laden calls for the extermination of _all_ infidels worldwide simply
>because they are infidels.  You can't because he never advocated that.

I'm too lazy to go looking for the transcript of the interview Al Jazeera
did with the two Al Qaeda leaders in June which they broadcasted a
few days ago, but I believe Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Khalid Shaikh
Mohamed said Al Qaeda did think about hitting nuclear plants but
then decided things might "get out of hand" if they did that. So I guess you
are sort of right if that interview is indeed authentic. Even so, how stupid
were these guys? Any sane person could tell Plan B would cause things
to get out of hand also. But then again, fundamentalist Islamic fascists
who belive they'll go to heaven after murdering thousands of "infidels"
probably shouldn't be considered well-adjusted.

You should look into what bin Laden was telling his followers before
9-11. Defeating the Red Army in Afghanistan and bringing down the
Soviet Union, he said, had been the hard part. The easy part - the
destruction of the United States of America - was still to come.
That task would be easy because America was corrupt and
cowardly and rotten. It would not fight (as the debacle in Somalia
had shown); it was a slave of the Jewish conspiracy; it cared only
for comfort and materialism. Al Qaeda probably has changed its
opinions somewhat since, but in the interview the two leaders
said they were ecstatic over how effective the attacks were.
But then again, maybe they were bluffing. Name a good book
on bin Laden and Al Qaeda that you've read and I'll go check it out.

Peter