Oh, but it’s not about Israel, is it? After all, we all know that Bin Laden barely talks about Israel, and instead wants to restore a caliphate… right? Wrong. Setting aside the silliness of worrying about how a few thousand extremists with no country or official support will somehow take over the entire Middle East and Mediterranean world.. set this aside, and focus on Israel. Anybody who has spent any time in the region, or who knows people from the region will realize quite quickly that Israel is the defining issue when it comes to why some Muslims detest America.
From the Brian Ross interview with ex-CIA operative John Kiriakou on the capture of Abu Zubaydah:
“He– he told us a couple of times that he had nothing personal, there was nothing personal against the United States. It was Israel that he wanted to fight. And that the United States was close to Israel. And we had been caught up in whatever it was that– that bothered him. And– he– he– he regretted having to help plan attacks against Americans.”
Some blame the prominent and well-funded Israel lobby, willing to hound any politician who even raises an eyebrow to question unilateral support for Israel and all it does. Personally, I think the bigger problem comes from the American Protestant fundamentalists, with their bizarre end times eschatology. If only the US would take a more even stand in the defining Israeli-Palestinian crisis– if only it followed the cue of the Vatican…
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