Date: 23 Sep 2001 22:21:24 +0200 From: Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@ofug.org> To: tlambert2@mindspring.com Cc: jason <kib@mediaone.net>, Paul Robinson <paul@akita.co.uk>, Stephen Hurd <deuce@lordlegacy.org>, Technical Information <tech_info@threespace.com>, FreeBSD Chat <chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Helping victims of terror Message-ID: <xzphettacaj.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no> In-Reply-To: <3BAE400A.9BD2F357@mindspring.com> References: <NFBBJPHLGLNJEEECOCHAGEDNCEAA.deuce@lordlegacy.org> <3BAC3644.1CB0C626@mindspring.com> <xzp66abb7pz.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no> <3BAD1FAE.2F3D40F5@mindspring.com> <20010923011557.B60374@jake.akitanet.co.uk> <015e01c143c8$c93505a0$89941bd8@speakeasy.net> <3BAE400A.9BD2F357@mindspring.com>
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Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> writes: > When the Soviet Union was intact, and they were invading > Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden was one of the leaders of the > resistance (following being disowned by his family in Saudi > Arabia, and his exile from that country -- he is a Saudi > Arabian citizen, not an Afghani citizen). *before* he was disowned and exiled. He returned to Saudi Arabia in the late eighties and worked in his family's construction business until he fled (in 1989, I believe) to escape being arrested for supporting and funding fundamentalist movements in other arab nations. > The U.S. supplied > arms to these resistance groups in order to oppose the spread > of Communism (the same reason that the U.S. involved itself > in Vietnam, after the situation there fell apart on the > French colonial failure). The VC the US fought in Vietnam were not the same VC the French fought when it was still called Indochina. There was a change of leadership and a significant shift in ideology between the two wars. > Realize that if it comes down to the continued existance of our > democracy, the U.S. will use all means at its disposal. The US is not a democracy. It is, at best, a parody of one - but never mind that - even when (if ever) it worked as intended, it never had much in common with a democracy save the name; the principles on which US society and government were built are far closer to technocracy or meritocracy than to democracy. These days, though, it looks more like an oligarchy or some kind of decentralized enlightened monarchy. DES -- Dag-Erling Smorgrav - des@ofug.org To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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