I do not wish to start a debate, I just want the fact(s).
According to Al-Qai’da, what is their ultimate goal ?
I gave one point of view in this post.
Thanks jjimm - food for thought, to be sure.
Short Term: Removal of US forces from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, elsewhere in the Islamic world.
Medium Term: Taliban style governments in the Muslim world, removal of Jews from Israel.
Long Term: Fundementalist Islamic style government over the entire world.
Hasn’t the U.S. left Saudi Arabia, or at least begun the process of doing so?
It seems if they would let us get things in shape in Iraq we would leave there too.
Personally, I think there stated goals are a pretext for internal political change in the Arab world.
Yeah, because it’s al-Qaeda that’s causing us problems there. Except, wait - Iraq was a secular government headed up by an athiest, whose goals shared absolutely nothing with those of the extremist Muslims that comprise al-Qaeda. Note too that the problem is many Iraqis want the help, but many others don’t - they don’t want Americans getting their country into the shape Americans happen to think it should be. I mean, no matter how bad off things got here, would you want folks from other countries fixing us?
Cheez-it, it’s so easy with us Americans. The government hardly even had to claim Saddam and Osama were in cahoots; we see dark skin and Muslim countries and put the pieces together ourselves.
(And for the uninformed. The administration has admitted that there is no evidence of ties between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government - a claim that was ridiculous in the first place - but hasn’t acknowledged any wrongdoing.)
Al Qaeda wants one thing: Imposition of their version of Islam worldwide as the sole religion and as the sole state. Never forget that. They do not care about justice.
I suggest you read about the changes Saddam made to the Iraqi flag after he took over. There’s a difference between personal beliefs and what plays to the masses.
http://www.allyoucanread.com/flag.asp?id=79
Except, of course, the crippling of their mutual enemy.
Having never lived under constant threat of torture and death by a ruthless dictator, I don’t believe that either you nor I am qualified to say that. Can you honestly apply your blanket statement to every nation in history? Germany? Bosnia?
:rolleyes: Yes, we just blew up some darkies to keep our army from gettign bored.
Bin Laden has been quoted as saying he wants to kill every American man, woman and child. He also stated that he wants to end the United States as we know it.
They want religious totalitarianism.
Oh wait, that’s what the American Religious Right wants, too.
I think you’re making the mistake of putting a chihuahua with an attitude in the same category as a rabid pit bull. They may both be dogs, but there’s a major difference between the two.
As much as I am annoyed by the Religious Right, the vast majority of them are not in favor of putting nonbelievers to the sword.
Al-Quaida, on the other hand…
Death is their goal. They pay lip service to the Palestianian cause but it is a mere vehicle to their true love, killing people.
Well, one of their true loves, the other being power.
Like most terrorist organizations, al-Qaida’s alleged goals are not necessary consistent between various members or even consistent with themselves. As has been pointed out, the main thrust of al-Qaida used to be getting the USA out of Saudi Arabia. Does anyone think they’ll stop killing if the USA actually ends up doing that? Me neither.
One of the calls claiming responsibility for the Spanish bombing cited, as a reason, a “Settling of accounts” for the Crusades. When you have people murdering other people over wars that happened a thousand years ago, you’re obviously talking about people who either just want to kill someone or who just want power and will kill people to get it.
If the USA gets out of Saudi, al-Qaida will murder people over Iraq. If the USA pulls out of Iraq, al-Qaida will start murdering people over Palestine. If Israel were to pull out of Palestine, they would murder people over the land Israel sits on proper. If Israel were to be overrun and all the Israelis massacred, al-Qaida would start murdering people over support for Egypt, or Pakistan, or Chechnya, or who knows what else. They’ll always find a reason, because that’s how the ringleaders retain their power and get free room and board with their sympathizers.
The invasion of Iraq no more encouraged or discouraged al-Qaida than invading Iceland would. It helped al-Qaida in distracting the USA from the war against terrorism, so in that regard it was stupid, but really, al-Qaida would be just as active today if the Iraq war had never happened.
Straight from the horses mouth - Full text: bin Laden’s ‘letter to America’
from a collection of Academic Info.
Or there is the Official Al Quida Website.
Wait a second…wasn’t most of Spain under Muslim control until the late 15th century?
Most of Spain/Iberia ( i.e. more than half ) early-8th to mid-11th century. Good-sized chunk of Iberia until early 13th century. Small fragment of Iberia (the Emirate of Granda, 1230-1492 ) until late 15th century.
- Tamerlane
Hm. I read the text of Bin Laden’s letter.
Near as I can tell, it boils down to this: “You suck. We hate you. Go back where you came from, and quit bothering us, and anyone we like.”
Seems like a succinct enough explanation.
Of course, if we DID, I suspect RickJay’s theory might well be proven accurate…
Here’s the whopper, “from the horse’s mouth”, describing Islam:
Think Mr. bin Laden needs to review that a few times, don’t you?
Excalibre, I do not plan to debate Iraq. I brought Iraq up because up unit that time AQ’s stated goal was to remove the US infidels from the holy land, Saudi Arabia. We have left and now their goal has shifted to removing us from the region or from Iraq. They have been responsible for bombinbs in Kenya, Bali, Turkey and Spain. Their stated goals seem to be a pretext to me.
The State Department says that Al Qaeda’s “current goal” is to “to establish a pan-Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems “non-Islamic” and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries–particularly Saudi Arabia.” Link. There is no mention of turning the U.S. into a Muslim country in that rather brief entry.