Help me out here - Need Information

[polexi]

I got myself sucked into a debate on another discussion board the other day (a lot of RP bashing) and it's heating up. I haven't kept myself educated on foreign policy, but I remember RP making a statement along the lines of "We provoked 9/11 by policing the middle east".

Can someone explain in more detail with some sources about what we were doing in the middle east to provoke 9/11?

Some information would be very appreciated.:)

[Jobarra]

Simple. Read the 3 reasons that were given by the CIA for the attack on us on 9/11. It's in the 9/11 commission report.

9/11 Commission (http://www.9-11commission.gov/)

Start reading around page 47. Page 48 has bin Laden's own words for why he was wishing death to America.

Page 376 has one of the responses recommended by the commission to curb the growth of terrorism. The bolded statement on this page sounds like something Dr. Paul would say. Unfortunately, just two responses down, the commission seems to be going back against this argument, which doesn't make sense to me.

[pdavis]

Osama bin Laden's 1996 Fatwa, "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places" (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1996.html)

His second Fatwa written in 1998,
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1998.html

[Elwar]

We were bombing Iraq for a decade. We had bases in Saudi Arabia. We meddle with anything political that happens in Israel.

[knappz]

American involvement in the middle east Time line: http://www.zmag.org/middletimeline.htm

[jrcasey]

I would say take a look at the Wikipedia entry for Michael Scheuer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Scheuer

The Bin Laden transcript also has a few points, specifically this quote "If you want to understand what's going on and if you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing the war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer." http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/transcript2.pdf

The notion is that al-Qaeda and jihadist movements in general are fueled by the desire to regain countries from American presence and influence. Osama bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia and we have several military bases there. He is a little irked. He wants us to leave, so the jihadists convince people to commits acts of terror in order to weaken America and make them leave.

And Iraq is nothing but a feeding frenzy for these guys. There was practically no al-Qaeda in Iraq prior to the US invasion, now it's great for recruitment because the Iraqis want their country back.

“Scheuer also agreed with Dr. Paul’s statement in the debate that the war in Iraq was a diversion from capturing or killing Osama bin Laden and that bin Laden was ‘delighted’ that the U.S. is occupying Iraq as it has become a training ground and recruiting tool for new jihadists joining the movement.”

Here are a few articles pertaining to these issues.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/26/AR2006092601721.html
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8SULV8O0
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/05/19/former-head-of-cias-osama-unit-backs-up-rep-ron-paul/

[polexi]

Big thanks everybody, this is very useful information. :)