Radical Islam: The New Nationalism

On the other hand, their religion could allow for them another way out, a means of rejecting the culture and methods that they see the West as dumping on them. Perhaps Britney Spears actually is so awful to some people that living a fifteenth century existence is preferable by comparison.
Regardless of how it is rationalized, the battle lines are being drawn, and they have the potential to stretch from Gibraltar to the middle of the Pacific. How the rest of the conflict will be fought; with GPS guided missiles and dirty bombs, or books and credit cards, is still very much up in the air.
The most positive steps the US can hope to take at this point are making Iraq work, even if it does not produce the government we want, and securing peace between Israel and Palestine. These successes should take much of the wind from the sails of bin Laden and the clerics and can buy the rest of the world some breathing room to figure out more rational solutions.
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