I personally think that is a pile of crap. They are talking about restoring the caliphate (Iberia) and then expanding it to the rest of the world. It is the Fourth World War (Cold War being the Third) for the total domination of the planet under the caliphate. There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. In the end, Islam will triumph or perish. It cannot co-exist with the infidel.
While withdrawing from Arabia would pretty much collapse the suicide bombing cycle, that action would hurt our strategic interests more than we would gain. There are many other considerations, like Iran, for instance, that merit our continued presence.
In the end, Islam will triumph or perish. It cannot co-exist with the infidel.
You're right, Duke, and you hit the absolute core issue. Think about the 9/11 hijackers, and their mindset. They launched 9/11 because Islam, as a social and political way of life, has completely lost it's centuries old battle with the West, and is beginning to perish.
It's a desperate, reactionary move on the part of people who see their entire way of life disappearing within the next hundred years, unless the tide can be changed. They don't use suicide attacks because they're winning, they do it because they're in danger of being culturally annihilated.
A war between civilizations is a smart move on bin Laden's part, because fear of change and anti-American hatred will help slow the decay and buy them some time. Our invasion of Iraq was a brilliant move, because we're shaking the dead tree, and helping to force it's collapse sooner. Either way, militant Islam is mobilizing for it's final fight, but one that even bin Laden states will require the intervention of Allah for them to win.
How we choose to deal with the suicide bomber issue is a seperate issue entirely, and should be based on rational assessments of American foriegn interests. But before we can deal with it, we need to know what it is, what conditions cause it to thrive and what can be used to reduce it.