Of course Bin Laden wants Jihad (holy war) in order to create a global state of Islam. However, the West also wanted, and to an extend no doubt had something to do with the attacks on the US last week, so it can finaaly, and fully, implenent the New World Order that Bush snr spoke of 10 years ago. We must not forget that the Western elite has a long history of state sponsored terrorism.
I do not accept the notion that the security services had no idea something was going to happen.
Its all a bit grassy knwol, mate.

no matter what we think of American foreign policy it is madness to suggest that the US security services allowed what happened last week to happen. I don't agree either that Bush is seeking to establish a new world order - loook at the stuff he was planning before this - scrapping Kyoto, missile defence etc - it all comes from an isolationist perspective.

You are right to warn the US Government against a "revenge" air strike against Afghanistan. However there is a problem with your analysis.

Why are you so certain that bin Laden and the Taliban were responsible for the attack on the WTC and its military wing, the Pentagon? Bin Laden is just the latest in a series of hate-figures which the Western media have used in order to whip-up sentiment behind US foreign policy. Remember when it was (ex CIA agent) Noriega who was supposedly behind all the mayhem in the world? The US "got" Noriega, blasting half of Panama City flat and killing two thousand people in order to do it - but the mayhem continued unabated.

We only have the word of the CIA that its former agent bin Laden is responsible. Hardly a trustworthy source! The USA has created a situation in which it is almost universally hated in the Middle East and many other parts of the world; Afghanistan is a convenient target because it exports heroin rather than oil and has no reliable allies.

Let's consider the example of Lockerbie. We are told that Libya was responsible and 'The West' has achieved the extradition and conviction of a Libyan - but even the relatives of the victims are far from convinced that the this man or the Libyan government had anything to do with it; the US authorities had initially blamed Syria and Iran (who sought revenge for the shooting down of a civilian airliner over the Gulf by a US Navy warship) but changed their minds and needed another scapegoat when they required Syrian and Iranian support for their bombing of Iraq.

"Revenge" attacks or show-trials of alleged terrorists will do nothing to further peace, justice and stability in the world because it is neo-liberal capitalism, led and imposed by the USA, which is responsible for most of the injustice, war and instability on our planet - not to mention destroying our world's resources reckless of the danger to future generations.

By the way, by blaming the Soviet Union for damaging Afghan agriculture and economy you are again letting the USA off the hook. The revolutionary government which overthrew the former feudal regime began a programme of education, healthcare, rights for women and land reform. It had no choice but to look to the USSR for support because the USA was covertly training and arming moslem fundamentalists (via the brutal dictatorship of Zia Ul Haq in Pakistan) to wage war against it. The game plan of the CIA was to destabilise the whole region on the borders of the USSR by unleashing a fundamentalist holy war against communism. Like a lot of the CIA's clever plans, although it was highly successful it has now blown up in their faces. The CIA is now denying that bin Laden was their agent, claiming that he was only raising funds in Pakistan for their Afghan operations.

Be wary of taking ANYTHING at face value from US capitalism's spying, manipulation and spin machine, the CIA. As Steve Biko remarked, "the greatest weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."

I will pass on your comments to Tamin.

Thanks Paul