Actually, without the west, the extremists are margianlized groups in the Muslim world, almost entire occupied with trying to radicalize fellow Muslims, not the rest of the world.
If you don't understand 8 years later that 9/11 was an attack by extremists aimed at moderate Muslims by trying to get the US to react and turn moderates into extremists, you haven't paid much attention.
I understand that was their stated goal. It doesn't change anything, al-qeada attacked us multiple times before 9/11, responding military was the only option. The opinions and goals of extremists don't shape US foreign policy and they shouldn't.
Craig234 said:Nothing the little ragtag A; Queda could do could radicalize almost any of the rest of the Muslim world. They were in danger, widely opposed. How cold they get their fellow Muslims converted to extremism? The US was the most powerful nation in the world, and non-Muslim, with a history of exploiting the Middle East. If IT would attack a Muslim nation that could drive huge numbers of Muslims into the arms of the extremists, much the way the USSR had united Afghans against it.
But how do you get the US to invade a Muslim nation and piss off huge numbers of people? It's not easy. or wait, maybe it is: with an attack they can't ignore.
There was no other purpose for 9/11. It had no meaningful impact on the US as far as making it lose its position of worldd leader, lose irreplacable resources, etc.
The *only* purpose of 9/11 was to provoke the US to respond militarily.
9/11 Report said:Both the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration have been criticized for failing to respond militarily to the attack on the USS Cole before 11 September 2001. The 9-11 Commission Report cites one source who said in February 2001, "[bin Laden] complained frequently that the United States had not yet attacked [in response to the Cole]... Bin Laden wanted the United States to attack, and if it did not he would launch something bigger."
Al-Qeada would simply keep up attacking us if we did not respond, each attack getting them status and new recruits. They would have no shortage no matter what we did:
A Sunday Times survey taken in UK shortly after the 9/11 attack "revealed that 40% of British Muslims believe Osama bin Laden was right to attack the United States. About the same proportion think that British Muslims have a right to fight alongside the Taliban. A radio station serving London's Pakistani community conducted a poll which 98% of London Muslims under 45 said they would not fight for Britain, while 48% said they would fight for bin Laden."
And that was from the UK, a western country.
In your long post you never point out your alternative to fighting al-qeada. Do we just keep our heads down and hope they move on to hating someone else more? Maybe we should just convert to Islam?