[piasa]

Paradoxically, Sheikh `Abd ar-Rahman also sees America as lacking in character and will, and therefore as weak. Thus, he assured his acolytes that five or six small operations against the American military, such as the bombing of the Marine barracks in 1983, would drive the United States from the Middle East.[12][Speech in Denmark, 1990. See also USDC-SDNY, United States v Abdel Rahman et al., Gov’t Ex. 550T, pp. 14, 26. ]
The few and ill-equipped fundamentalists have no hope of overwhelming the American forces; rather, `Abd ar-Rahman believes they will defeat the Americans through superior will. He urges a battle of attrition. By fomenting enough fear over time, fundamentalist Muslims ensure that Americans will find a policy of appeasement irresistibly more seductive than one of constant vigilance. `Abd ar-Rahman expects that a combination of Muslim conviction and Western weakness will bring Islam its ultimate triumph. He counsels patience; operatives should lie in wait for opportune moments.------ "Prosecuting the New York Sheikh," Andrew C. McCarthy, March 1, 1997, This article was first published by Middle East Quarterly in March 1997

[kristinn]

Thanks.

[OddLane]

Andrew McCarthy is absolutely brilliant on this subject.

Finished reading his newest book, The Grand Jihad, a few months ago and just bought a copy of Willful Blindness, which chronicles the first WTC bombing trial and its relation to Islamic expansionism.

[piasa]

appeasement ping