05-25-2015, 11:30 AM
(05-24-2015, 06:31 PM)fredtoast Wrote: No.
I could travel through Alabama and talk to the locals today and learn that black people really didn't have it that bad under slavery or in the Jim Crow era.
He was there as a member of the US military. People probably told him what he wanted to hear.
Bin Laden had made his motives very clear going all the way back to the 1990's. Read "Imperial Hubris" by Michael Sheuer. he studied the history of the region and quotes Bin Laden's exact words.
Really? You don't believe someone will learn about a country while spending a significant amount of time in that country? Did you learn everything about being a lawyer in a textbook? Or did real life experiences in the courtroom add to your knowledge? So what if he was there as a member of the military? Patraes was there as a member of the military. Does that mean you know more about Iraq and Afghanistan than he does?
Everyone in Alabama is a racist? Your example is nothing more than an ignorant stereotype. I grew up in southern Ohio and it is every bit as racist as any other part of the country if not more so.
I have read what Bin Laden's motives were so I'm not going to read a book I have no interest in because I have enough professional reading to do already. My understanding is Bin Laden masterminded the 9/11 attacks because of the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia during the build up before the first Gulf War. If bfine disagrees that doesn't necessarily discount the rest of his knowledge or experience in the area
