On Tue, 12 Jul 2005, Luke Weiger wrote:
> Miles wrote:
>
>> I really don't see the mystery here. We have a group that is
>> trying to achieve political goals by killing innocent people.
>
> You're being obtuse. The mystery is what exact ends they're trying to bring
> about. (Like I said, it's probably pretty easy to come up with a
> comprehensive list of candidate motives, but at the current moment doing any
> more is impossible.) Some would say that the restoration of the Caliphate
> is a senseless end. I wouldn't disagree.
Bin laden (at least) has been pretty explicit:
1. U. S. military out of the Middle East
2. No military support for Israel
3. Creation of Islamic theocratic regimes
Whether or not you agree with these political goals, they are "exact ends". --I guess this hinges on what we mean by "senseless": if senseless means "political goals I disagree with", sure, I agree, al-Q's terrorism is senseless. If senseless means irrational activity without goal or purpose, al-Q's terrorism is clearly not senseless.
Miles