"If the next major terrorist attack on the United States takes place, it will not greatly matter if the attackers turn out to have been al-Qaeda or al-Qaedaists: bin Laden survives as an inspiring folk hero. The political causes and theological justifications for jihad are as alive as ever; in such places as the shabby storefront mosque in Harburg, the Hamburg suburb where Mohamed Atta and his colleagues found their suicidal vocation, the toxic dream of wreaking vengeance on the Great Satan will surely continue to exert its hold on the minds of well-heeled and technologically capable young men outraged by US policies and actions in the Middle East, and impassioned by religious beliefs of fresh and furious vitality."
That rings true.
Of course, Bush spins Al Qaeda to serve the ends of the project he's leading. Of course, Al Qaeda is close to the perfect new bogey. The USSR was better, since it wouldn't ever actually attack us, but a group that can only get off a comparative tweaker or two every couple years is next best.
But, as Raban says, that doesn't mean this problem isn't severe and real. And there's no guarantee at all what the next 9/11 will be. And we know for sure that the status quo is massively deadly to Arab civilians.
It is extremely unprincipled to play TV-show games with all this, IMHO. Al Qaeda is certainly not what Bush says it is. But neither is it a non-problem. How can we hope to change people's minds, if we can't get this much right? Wanzala's conspiracy shit manages to make us look both stupid and unconcerned with a real problem. Not good.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
> On Behalf Of Doug Henwood
> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 3:00 PM
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] Does Al Qaeda Exist?
>
> Michael Dawson wrote:
>
> >You hoax-peddlers can't let anybody think straight, can you? It _is_ a
> >matter of whether Al Qaeda exists. It does, and it has claimed
> >responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.
>
> Have you read the NY Review piece yet? Any thoughts?
>
> Doug
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk