We've given bin Laden what he wanted...

Undertoad · 09-15-2010, 06:19 PM

(rather than edit, followup post)

Actually I don't think Koppel is trying to knowingly press his agenda. I think the problem is that WE can't buy into UBL's beliefs, stated goals, and methods. They are from a culture that is hard to comprehend. It's much easier to picture what their goals would be, standing from our point of view, with our cultural understanding. When we do that we will be inevitably wrong.

This disconnect continues to drive our confusion.

What does bin Laden want? We know what *we* would want and what *we* would expect our actions and methods to result in. From our point of view, we think that annoying airline passengers would be a damn good result. From bin Laden's point of view, the invasion of two Islamic countries, removing the Islamic or pseudo-Islamic governments and demonstrating that there's nothing he can do about it is absolutely the worst possible outcome.

I mean, sorry. But it is.

09-15-2010, 06:19 PM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	(rather than edit, followup post) Actually I don't think Koppel is trying to knowingly press his agenda. I think the problem is that WE can't buy into UBL's beliefs, stated goals, and methods. They are from a culture that is hard to comprehend. It's much easier to picture what their goals would be, standing from our point of view, with our cultural understanding. When we do that we will be inevitably wrong. This disconnect continues to drive our confusion. What does bin Laden want? We know what we would want and what we would expect our actions and methods to result in. From our point of view, we think that annoying airline passengers would be a damn good result. From bin Laden's point of view, the invasion of two Islamic countries, removing the Islamic or pseudo-Islamic governments and demonstrating that there's nothing he can do about it is absolutely the worst possible outcome. I mean, sorry. But it is.

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