"D. Simmons" wrote:
>    I reject your claim that Al Qaeda has a list of "legitimate" grievances,
> if for no other reason than because, though you claim they do, you have not
> been able to list what they are.

I'm sorry, but I don't mean to imply they have an actual list of
legitimate grievances.  I mean that when you look at the objectives of a
terrorist organization (which OBL has listed), you will probably find
some legitimate grievances on which those objectives are based.  That is
true in this case, and there is no need to fear it and reject it.
Removal of the Saudi monarchy because it is corrupt and despotic is just
as legitimate as removal of the US government because it is corrupt and
despotic.  The difference is that the US government allows itself to be
removed every four years, while the Saudi government doesn't allow
itself to be removed at all.  That makes fighting against it
legitimate.  It made fighting against the British legitimate in our own
history.  We can't deny that legitimacy.  Recognizing that legitimacy
doesn't imply legitimacy for terrorism, and it doesn't imply  legitimacy
for non-secular states, whether they are Islamic or not.

The second legitimate grievance is the oppression and dispossession of
the Palestinians.  Fighting against the occupation of Palestine is based
on legitimate grievance, just as fighting against the British occupation
of the colonies was based on legitimate grievance.  We can't deny that
legitimacy.  Recognizing that legitimacy does not imply legitimacy for
killing Israeli civilians, and it doesn't imply legitimacy for
establishing Palestines as anything but a secular state.

To deny these legitimate grievances is to be on the wrong side.  To
recognize them does *not* imply being on the side of terrorists.  There
is a difference between terrorism and fighting for freedom.  It's not
hard to see.  And it is necessary to see these legitimate grievances,
wherever they arise, and to be on the side of the people wherever we
find them.  A side effect of following this policy will be the
elimination of terrorism.  A side effect of *not* following this policy
will be terrorism.

martin

>p.s.  Frank, hope you appreciate that I trimmed my response to a more
>manageable bandwidth.

Me too.

--
Martin Smith               email: [log in to unmask]
Vollsveien 9               tel. : +47 6783 1188
P.O. Box 482               mob. : +47 932 48 303
1327 Lysaker, Norway