# What Al Qaeda Wants

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-al-qaeda-wants/321145>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 11, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-al-qaeda-wants/321145 "2005-09-11T21:30:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MMI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@MMI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MMI)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-al-qaeda-wants/321145/41 "2005-09-15T18:17:49Z")

</div>

> [@furt](#):
>
> Well, that has to do with the _means_ of accomplishing said strategic goal, and I’m not going to defend that here.
> 
> For now, it’s enough merely to point out that there are many who are _not_ on board with the idea that that should be the goal.

Whether one agrees with the goal in the abstract may be different from whether one agrees with the goal as expressed or as likely to be executed by a government or party.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Aagramn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Aagramn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aagramn)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-al-qaeda-wants/321145/42 "2005-09-15T18:52:44Z")

</div>

> [@RaftPeople](#):
>
> But again, Wahhabism was established prior to Saudi Arabia, and it was not established due to a repressive regime, it was in response to a perception that society was too “un-islamic”, not a repressive regime (see post by **Atticus Finch** ).

I don’t think anyone is saying repression is the sole cause of fundamentalism, there is a lot of prior history, only that it’s a major factor in it’s spread. In an extreame environment the moderates become invisible and largely ineffective, at least in the short term. Fundamentalists can exploit and channel the people’s anger to gain recruits. I’d agree we shouldn’t take the “expression of rage” theory as gospel.

> [@RaftPeople](#):
>
> This is exactly what I am saying, the religious fundamentalism (as you just stated in this example) is NOT due to repressive regimes. Yes they were suppressed, but not before taking violent action themselves.

Did the supression increase or decrease the brotherhood’s membership? Or more to the point, did the supression make it easier for it’s militant wing to justify it’s actions and gain support?

> [@RaftPeople](#):
>
> Egypt is a perfect example of a country being hit by terrorists due to not being Islamic enough.

Or have the fundamentalist Islamic countrys just been more successful at supressing their populations, by aligning themselves with religious authority?

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-al-qaeda-wants/321145.md?page=2)