[PatrickHenry]

Darn Good Article Ping List

[fire and forget]

Good morning! (PDT here) Might I be admitted to this ping list as well? My first impulse on seeing this article was to inform you.

[longshadow]

THe one thing that appears to be missing from this is that the near term motive for the terrorists is publicity for the ongoing Civil War for the heart and soul of the Islamic World. Christopher Hitchens has expounded on this view somewhat, perhaps others have, but it is not a widely held view.

None the less, I think there's merit to it: attacking the West is not an end unto itself, it is a means to an end. The fundie Moslems nutcases are vying for support, and to the extent they blow up things in London and New York, etc. they demonstrate their power, relevance, dedication, and efficacy to the rank and file Muslims. There near term goal is to overthrow all the secular governments in the Middle East and replace them with Taliban/Iranian style Islamic theocracies with Sharia-based legal systems.

The other points are well taken, but there's more to the story than their envy for the success of the Secular West over their system, which has been mired in stasis for a thousand years.