Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia

Photo by User:David Shankbone on Wikinews, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikipedia, licensed under GFDL.

Lawrence Wright is the author of The Looming Tower, a Pulitzer Prize winning book that documents the rise of Al Qaeda. This morning, I had the opportunity to listen to him give a talk at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. about Al Qaeda. He spoke of the misunderstanding that many in the U.S. have of Al Qaeda.

On “homeland security” measures, he feels that our reactions to terrorism have been overblown. Simple measures like hardening cockpit doors are effective, but other measures are overly drastic and deprive us of freedoms. (e.g. the security measures required to go see the Liberty Bell) Yet, Al Qaeda is real, and needs to be better understood in the United States and the threat managed more properly.

Wright spoke about the “goals” of Al Qaeda, and how it differs from other terrorist organizations, such as the IRA (Ireland), Hamas, and Hezbollah. The latter organizations do have some political goals and it is possible to negotiate with them. With Al Qaeda, they do not really have political goals in that sense.

• One of their stated goals (from Bin Laden’s fatwas in the 1990s), is to get American troops out of Saudi Arabia. After the U.S. invaded Iraq, the U.S. government announced it would pull all troops out of Saudi Arabia (troops were there to provide security for Iraq’s no-fly zone). Al Qaeda’s response included the Riyadh compound bombings in May 2003, which killed 35 - mainly Muslims.
• When Al Qaeda attacked Spain with the Madrid train bombings, it’s stated goal was to get Spain to overthrow the Jose María Aznar government, and get Spain to pull its troops out of Iraq. Within days after the bombing, Aznar was voted out, and the new government quickly announced it was pulling troops out of Iraq. That’s just what Al Qaeda wanted, right? Al Qaeda’s response? Another attempted (but unsuccessful) bombing on April 2, with the target this time, a high-speed train (AVE).[1]

Wright also spoke about reasons why young people in places like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, or Muslims in Europe, join Al Qaeda.

In Europe:

• There is serious alienation of Muslims in Europe, including those born in Europe of Islamic heritage. Young Muslims in Europe often do not feel welcome, have difficulty finding jobs, experience poverty and other social problems. Muslims are also severely over-represented in prisons; For example, they comprise 50 percent of the prison population in France.^[2] Being alienated, it’s common for European Muslims to turn to the Mosque. Some Mosques are radical, and are ripe recruiting grounds for Al Qaeda.

In Arab countries:

• The economic future for young people is often bleak. They have little to look forward to, and radical Islam seems to be a good option in the view of some young people.
• The lack of representation in government, and the oppressiveness of the regimes makes many young people feel alienated. The benefits of the oil economy often do not reach the people. Yet, America supports these regimes, and is a massive consumer of the oil.
• The ways of civil society in many places, particularly Saudi Arabia, alienates young people - few places to gather and socialize, few parks, also not possible to gather and discuss politics, etc.
• Gender apartheid strains society. Men are burdened with things like providing transportation for their wives and daughters, since women are not allowed to drive. This often means that men hire chauffeurs for their family, at significant cost. Wright also explains how the division between genders “deprives men of the civilizing effect that women can have” on them.

Wright believes there are things that can be done to lessen the reasons why young people join Al Qaeda.

• A major excuse that Al Qaeda uses and a “cause” that many young people have when joining is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Wright believes the content of the eventual peace agreement is largely known now. We know what it will be, but no one has had the political will to move on this. This is definitely a solvable problem. One, if solved, would not make Bin Laden very happy. Since, there would be less “cause” for many Arabs to join Al Qaeda. Wright believes that Al Qaeda would still exist, but lose substantial ground on recruitment.

From the perspective of the U.S., the government is having a very difficult time understanding the Arab culture and Arabic language, and thus is misguided on many efforts. One reason for that is the shortage of Arabic speakers and natives from those countries working in the U.S. government. For example, there are 12 Muslims currently working for the F.B.I., out of 38,000. The F.B.I. desperately needs more Arabic speakers. At the State Department, there are only 8 employees (out of 1,000) at the American embassy in Baghdad who speak Arabic. The security clearance barriers to hiring people desperately needed are much too high. He says that not hiring more of these people is a security risk for the U.S.

There are major disconnects and misunderstandings between Arab and American people, as well as grave problems in how Europe accepts Muslims in their countries. It is extremely difficult for Americans to understand just how different places like Saudi Arabia are, and the social/political problems and alienation that people there face, and how it creates a ripe recruiting ground for Al Qaeda.

Lawrence Wright is not only an author, but also a playwright and screenwriter. He is visiting Washington, for performances of his one-man show, “My Trip to Al-Qaeda” at the Kennedy Center.^[3]

Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made a request — to visit Ground Zero and lay a wreath there, while he is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Ahmadinejad has been widely criticized for his anti-semitic remarks and as a holocaust denier.

In May 2006, Ahmadinejad sent a letter to Bush, which included a message about 9/11, hinting at his belief that 9/11 was an “inside job”, involving governmental ‘intelligence and security services.’

September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services — or their extensive infiltration? Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret? Why are we not told who botched their responsibilities? And, why aren’t those responsible and the guilty parties identified and put on trial?

Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric about 9/11 are tied in with his anti-semitic beliefs. Generally speaking, it turns out that many of the 9/11 conspiracy theories have roots in antisemitism, including many pieces written by Christopher Bollyn in American Free Press.

* 9/11 Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories

The NYPD has declined Ahmadinejad’s request for “security reasons”.

* Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked to visit Ground Zero - NY Daily News
* Iran Leader Denied on WTC Wreath Request - Washington Post

Update: September 20, 2001 - 11:30 p.m.

The exact nature of Ahmadinejad’s request is unclear. If he wants to actually descend into the “pit” to lay a wreath, he requires permission from the Port Authority which owns the site. With ongoing construction, that will not be possible.

Instead, Ahmadinejad may just visit the area around the site. It appears that talks with Michael Bloomberg are still ongoing, and yet to be determined whether or not he will go down there to Ground Zero. As a visiting head of state, the NYPD and the Secret Service are required to provide security for him, and have some say in this.

* U.S. May Escort Ahmadinejad to Ground Zero - N.Y. Sun

Update: September 21, 2001, 3:00 p.m.

Michelle Malkin reports that Ahmadinejad might visit Ground Zero anyway at 10 am on Monday, under protection of the Secret Service. Counter-protests will be held there, including members of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran.

Ahmadinejad has also been invited to speak at Columbia University, though counter-protests will be held there as well.

* Columbia U. students organize: Ahmadinejad is not welcome here - Michelle Malkin

I have posted a video showing the CBS footage of the collapse of 7 World Trade Center, with some annotation added. The video shows more than the seven seconds that many show. This is something simple, but couldn’t find anything out there like this. It shows the east penthouse collapsing then collapse of the entire structure, taking at least 13 seconds - contrary to other video clips that only show 7 seconds.