Rhaenda

[barbara100 at jps.net]

I'm kinda thinking it doesn't really matter what bin Laden is thinking, what his true motives and sicknesses are.  What really matters is the perception of his angry followers.  And his followers have a very distinct perception  about America that we would be wise not to overlook.  Isn't perception a good half of reality? I think so.  Look at Blicero.  His sickness was only powerful because of Gottfried's perception and beliefs about him.  "...when I see you in the morning and evening ranks, so open, so ready to take my sickness in and shelter it inside your own little ignorant love."  (GR 844)  Bin Laden has 3000 little Gottfried's willing to shelter his sickness and die for him.  And he's got countless other dissatisfied souls wavering in America's blame for theirs and their countrymen's woes. Right or wrong, whether we're the Great Satan or a convenient scapegoat,  their dissatisfactions are real, and if we're going to be Real, we'd better have a look at them.  
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Rhaenda 
  To: pynchon-l at waste.org 
  Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2001 1:03 PM
  Subject: Re:



  Or perhaps bin Laden is not motivated at all by revenge towards the U.S. or
  the Russians or the Israelis for that matter.  Suppose he is using the
  despair of the Afghanis, the Palestinians, and the extremely devout for his
  own aims.  Suppose bin Laden wants to be the new Mahdi,  suppose he wants to
  overturn the Saudi government, to throw out Saddam Hussein as the 'Caliph',
  establishing himself as Caliph, gaining control of the nukes Pakistan has
  developed, getting the Iraqi stockpiles of chemicals and biologicals not to
  mention the oil (oil being the elephant in the room).  Maybe he wants the
  U.S. troops out of Saudi not because of  the religious significance of their
  presence but because they stand between him and Riyadh.  Casting bin Laden
  as a mere religious fanatic out to avenge the alleged mistreatment of third
  party muslims underestimates the man and his ambitions.  It may not be about
  religion, it may not be about revenge, it may be about power.

  And as for 'blowback' from Iran, the Pahlevi family has been gone for 22
  years and the ayatollahs have been running the show ever since.  The
  Iranians despise bin Laden and his sect of Islam and he returns the favor.
  The hostility between Sunni and Shi' ite dates back to 2 hours after the
  death of the Prophet when Ali was passed over as successor.


  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "Dave Monroe" <davidmmonroe at hotmail.com>
  To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
  Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2001 2:33 AM


  > Okay, my rare post on the events of the past week or two.  From Chalmers
  > Johnson, "Blowback," The Nation (October 15, 2001) ...
  >
  > "The suicidal assassins of September 11, 2001, did not 'attack America,'
  as
  > our political leaders and the news media like to maintain; they attacked
  > American foreign policy.
  >
  > [...]
  >
  > > [...]
  >
  > The last straw as far as bin
  > Laden was concerned was that, after the Gulf War, we based 'infidel'
  > American troops in Saudi Arabia to prop up its decadent, fiercely
  > authoritarian regime. Ever since, bin Laden has been attempting to bring
  the
  > things the CIA taught him home to the teachers.  On September 11, he
  appears
  > to have returned to his deadly project with a vengeance.
  >
  > [...]
  >
  > > _________________________________________________________________
  > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
  >

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