Does Al-Qaeda threaten "The West" or just the USA?

[_Jumper_]

It's often portrayed as a threat to "The West" but the last time I checked they haven't carried out a terrorist attack in any other "Western" country. It's a threat to America only right now and needs to be stopped. If they suceed in defeating us they'll just find a new target so in that sense in is a potential threat to "The West."

[Blue_Chill]

1. The West

French ship was attacked
Spanish club was bombed
Members found in Germany and the UK

[_Jumper_]

2. "Members found in Germany and the UK"

They have members in 90 countries. Do they threaten 90 countries or just the "Western" countries?

[Blue_Chill]

3. Weren't they found with a large

amount of poison in the UK. That seems threatening to me.

To answer your question they only seem to threaten western countries and people. Remember that club bombing at a popular resort that killed a whole bunch of Austrailians?

It's western culture that they hate, I guess women in public without a male family member standing next to them really pisses them off.

[_Jumper_]

5. They thought the Australians were Americans

Why haven't there been Al-Qaeda attacks in London, Toronto, Copenhagen, Wellington, or Rome? They only have targeted America and Arab nations.

If it's Western culture that they are "fighting for" why haven't they attacked any other Western nation? They certainly do hate Western culture but I think they main reason they are fighting is to force America to disengage from the Middle East, which they believe will allow them to establish a Muslim fundie state throughout the Arab world.

[Mal]

6. The Bali Bombing.

We do seem to think for some reason that was aimed at us, true. Obviously, a bomb blast in a foreign country, in a foreign club, occupied mainly by foreigners, was targeted at us. Of course!
However, despite the best efforts to show otherwise, Al-Qaeda was not involved.
Finally, the East has more than enough valid reasons to despise the West, and particularly America, the vanguard of Western arrogance and self-centredness.

[_Jumper_]

7. The Arabs still look nostalgically at their old empire

If they had half the power America had they'd be establishing another empire. All this talk about "peace and justice" emanating from the Arab world and their proxies is baloney.

[Mal]

8. What, like the Yanks?

The Moslem empires, when they had empires, were enlightened, tolerant lands, where people could follow their own faiths, be you moslem, jew, or christian. Contrast that with the Christian lands of the time. True, that has changed. It seems the moslems did learn something from us, after all.
But if they would establish a "Fundie" government if left to their own devices, what right has the West got to stop them? We feel that Democracy is the best form of government, but even if that is true, do you feel we have the right to force ANY form of government on someone else if they don't want it? If sufficient people want democracy, they will have democracy. If sufficient people want something else, they will have something else.

[_Jumper_]

9. Yeah right

Like the Yanks? Where is this mythical American empire?

Christians and Jews were given 3 choices by "tolerant" Arab emperors: 1) Pay a sizable tax because they were born different and weren't Muslim 2)Convert to Islam 3)DIE. People who followed a non-Muslim religion other than Christianity and Judaism were given two choices: 1)Convert 2)DIE. Not surprisingly, almost everyone there converted. Why do you they Islam exists essentially only in lands Muslims INVADED and OCCUPIED FOR AS LONG AS THEY COULD? Yeah, they were paragons of tolerance. It's amusing to hear Muslims talk about "peace and justice" and denounce aggression on one hand and then on the other hand lionize imperialist if they were Muslim.

"Contrast that with the Christian lands of the time."

Christians conquered as many nations as they could and forced people to convert to Christianity? When did this happen?

"But if they would establish a "Fundie" government if left to their own devices, what right has the West got to stop them?"

That's bigoted. When is the last time New Zealand or Finland meddle in the internal affairs of foreign nations? To blame "The West" is bigoted and smacks of racism. Hypothetically, what right would one have to stop Muslims from establishing fundie Taliban-type regimes? The same exact "right" that Muslims say Muslim imperialists had when they conquered nations! If Muslims want to complain about imperialism they need to denounce ALL forms of it. If they are going to continue to be hypocrites on the issue I see nothing wrong with a Christian nation invading a Muslim nation and imposing Christianty on them. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.:)

" We feel that Democracy is the best form of government, but even if that is true, do you feel we have the right to force ANY form of government on someone else if they don't want it?"

Every propsperous nation on Earth is a democracy. If Muslims think fundie regimes will bring more prosperity they can think that but they shouldn't blame us for their problems like they did in the case of the Taliban's 14th century regime in Afghanistan and do in the case of the medicore at best nation of Iran, which is under fundie rule.

"do you feel we have the right to force ANY form of government on someone else if they don't want it?"

Arabs and Muslims have no problem with it.:)

[supernova]

4. West - USA is the proxy stand in

for the west in general, since we're percieved as the most successful, most powerful.

This is the same running argument we've been having since the Crusades, just the latest chapter.

I think the Muslim world feels somewho deeply humiliated and cheated that they don't have the standard of living that we (in the West) enjoy. And We westerners, ought to be addressing that instead of starting wars with them.