"...bin Laden is attempting to unify the radical Muslims living in moderate Muslim states. He would like nothing more than to have them overthrow those states so that he can unify them and install himself as the leader of one large radical Islamic nation, and wage war against the West. As evidence of this, he pointed out that bin Laden has not shown much interest in the Palestinians in the past. Now he is speaking out in their behalf in order to gain their support.""Of course most Muslims do not support such violence as terrorism. However watching a Muslim country being bombed day after day might change the minds of even the most moderate and cause them to support bin Laden. Perhaps that is the plan: Goad Muslims into hating the West so much that anything goes."
The premise is that bin Laden is attacking us in order to goad us into retaliation, so that in turn, Muslims can be goaded into hating us.
This is the pattern of Muslim/non-Muslim conflict throughout the world and throughout history.
Central to the Muslim mindset is that no retaliation by a non-Muslim against a Muslim can ever be justified. So all it takes is for one Muslim to get the ball rolling, and the conflict will feed upon itself.
There will be no peace until Islam conquers, or is itself eliminated
On that we can agree. He wants a clash of cultures - the jihadists vs. the crusaders. He seems to think that if he can provoke this, Allah will take care of the rest.
Luis, they react negatively to ANYTHING we do unless it's complete and utter capitulation. Even that would not be good enough for some.
However, they aren't fools and do respect power. Not pinpricks like the successful retaliatory strikes Israel has done, but complete and utter regime replacement as will be done with Saddam and his merry band of thugs.
It may give the cowards some pause for thought before they kill another 3000 innocnt Americans. Little bullies tend to think twice after a big bully gets his ass roundly kicked.