WAR DECLARED! A long time ago...

At times I feel as if I've lost my memory as to why we're at the current juncture in this here Global War On Terror(tm). This by no means is an endorsement of the way we're fighting it, our current president, his means, his ends, the Iraq war, our overall policy, etc. I could go on. However, sometimes in our frustration over these current events, especially those relating to the Iraq war we get too wrapped up in our current president, and the daily machinations that occur in Iraq and the Middle East at large. In fact, it has been precisely because of George Bush that I forget what started this whole process.

I spent some time this evening taking a little trip down memory lane. I was reminded that Osama Bin Laden had declared war on these here United States in the year 1996.

I read as much of this blustery Fatwa as I could, skipping as many "praise be to Allah's" as I possibly dared and found this interesting bit:

Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge, but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal[from Somalia]. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the "heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the "chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut , Aden and Mogadishu.

Right before this section, Bin Laden makes references to the 1983 withdrawal from Beirut after a bomb kills '241 mainly marines'. Primarily, we're reminded that Bin Laden was cooking actions against the United States a long time ago. These resentments run deep and won't be cured soon. I have no answers, but I will be posting on my thoughts about Islam, from time to time. I'm slowly beginning to develop a grand unifying view of Islam and how its old-world adherents differ from Western cultures.