I Wouldn't Say I Was Part Of

And It's True, You Hear Things In Damascus And, After A Few Hours, The Human Double-take Stops Operating.

U.s. Journalists I Don't Think Are Very Courageous. They Tend To Go Along With The Government's Policy Domestically And Internationally. To Question Is Seen As Being Unpatriotic, Or Potentially Subversive.

Saudi Arabia Is The Most Fragile Of All Arab States, Though We're Not Saying So. And, Unfortunately, Bin Laden Puts His Finger On The Other Longstanding Injustices In The Arab World: The Continued Occupation Of Palestinian Land By The Israelis; The Enormous, Constant Arab Anger With The Tens Of Thousands Of Iraqi Children Who Are Dying Under Sanctions; The Feelings Of Humiliation Of Millions Of Arabs Living Under Petty Dictators, Almost All Of Whom Are Propped Up By The West.

Individuals In Various Countries Like Egypt And Saudi Arabia Listen To The Tapes Of Bin Laden. They Gather In Groups Of Four Or Five. They Feel They Want To Do Something To Express Their Support For What They've Heard. The Idea That They Were Taking Orders Is A Particularly Western Idea.

When I Arrived In Beirut From Europe, I Felt The Oppressive, Damp Heat, Saw The Unkempt Palm Trees And Smelt The Arabic Coffee, The Fruit Stalls And The Over-spiced Meat. It Was The Beginning Of The Orient. And When I Flew Back To Beirut From Iran, I Could Pick Up The British Papers, Ask For A Gin And Tonic At Any Bar, Choose A French, Italian, Or German Restaurant For Dinner. It Was The Beginning Of The West. All Things To All People, The Lebanese Rarely Questioned Their Own Identity.