Note That There Was No Claim For

Ironically, Many Of People, Including Osama Bin Laden And The Mujahedeen, Were, In Fact, Nourished By The United States In The Early Eighties In Its Efforts To Drive The Soviets Out Of Afghanistan.

The People Who Perpetrated The Terror Of The World Trade Center And Pentagon Bombings Are Something Different Because These People Were Obviously Not Desperate And Poor Refugee Dwellers. They Were Middle Class, Educated Enough To Speak English, To Be Able To Go To Flight School, To Come To America, To Live In Florida.

Just As None Of Us Is Outside Or Beyond Geography, None Of Us Is Completely Free From The Struggle Over Geography. That Struggle Is Complex And Interesting Because It Is Not Only About Soldiers And Cannons But Also About Ideas, About Forms, About Images And Imaginings.

This [terrorists Attacks On 9/11] Was Part Of Nothing. It Was A Leap Into Another Realm - The Realm Of Crazy Abstractions And Mythological Generalities, Involving People Who Have Hijacked Islam For Their Own Purposes. It's Important Not To Fall Into That Trap And To Try To Respond With A Metaphysical Retaliation Of Some Sort.

In The Islamic World, The U.s. Is Seen In Two Quite Different Ways. One View Recognizes What An Extraordinary Country The U.s. Is. Every Arab Or Muslim That I Know Is Tremendously Interested In The United States. Many Of Them Send Their Children Here For Education. Many Of Them Come Here For Vacations. They Do Business Here Or Get Their Training Here. The Other View Is Of The Official United States, The United States Of Armies And Interventions.