Bin Laden's goals

"The Manipulators of 9/11" is a very good piece. However, I think you make one statement that played into the hands of Cheney and Bush. On Page 10 you say: "While bin Laden and Al Qaeda certainly would like to destroy the United States.... "

I believe I have read everything that bin Laden has said publicly. He has named six clear and focused foreign policy goals:

1. The end of U.S. aid to, and the ultimate destruction of, Israel.

2. The removal of U.S. and all Western forces from the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Muslim countries.

3. The end of U.S. support for the oppression of Muslims by Russia, China, and India.

4. The end of U.S. protection for the repressive and apostate regimes in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and Jordan.

5. The conservation of the Muslim world's energy resources and their sale at higher prices.

While Bush, et al., try to convince us our terrorism problem is who we are, bin Laden says it is because of what we do. His goal is to change U.S. policies toward the Islamic world, not to destroy the United States, which he knows he cannot accomplish.

Of course, people in general, and Bush and Cheney in particular, did argue that bin Laden will accomplish these goals over our dead bodies. I suggest it is better for them to say that than The Progressive. As you say in your last sentence: "Fear is their trump card."

John Wilkins

Bradfordwoods, Pennsylvania

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