[lbo-talk] Platypus: what we are, what we do, and why

[Chris Doss]

While I agree with you about 75%, I think you are effacing the difference between the "Islamist terrorist conspiracy" (which was probably just a poor choice of words), that is, terrorism done by people with various forms of radical and/or fundamentalist Islamist ideology, and the various forms of violence done by Islamist states or governing bodies inside regions in which they have power (with or without the consent of the population, which varies). Those are different; the former are largely none-state agents and don't like the latter, for one thing, except in the case of the Taliban and a couple of other instances.

Also something that tends to get left out of the discussion of radical Islamism in the North American and European contexts -- naturally enough, since they are unlikely to encounter it to any extent -- is that at least some forms of it are radically expansionist and so in some places are a military threat. Just ask anybody who lived near the Afghan or Chechen border in the late 90s.

----- Original Message ----
From: Christopher Cutrone <ccutrone at speedsite.com>

This Islamist terrorist conspiracy is less dangerous, in purely physical terms, than the govt. violence of the U.S. and Britain, et al. But that doesn't mean it's not dangerous. What about the Taliban regime in Afghanistan? What about the Islamic Republic in Iran? What about Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in Gaza?