The president says nations must either fight terrorists or harbor them. The Bush Doctrine – two camps, no middle ground. Let’s take that idea and run with it. There are two kinds of people in the world, good people and bad people. Leaving the bad people aside for the moment, let’s separate the good people into two camps. There are those who believe we can make the world better by political means and there are those who want to change the world through interpersonal relations.
The first group of people, the people who believe in politics, are in charge. They write down their ideas, get other people to endorse them, run for office and spend our tax dollars. None of us is really happy with the system, we all see how easily it’s corrupted, but we’re hard-pressed to find a better alternative.
The other people, the people who believe in change by personal transactions, feel if individuals were less unhappy, if we treated each other better, there would be less trouble in the world, and they’re right. We’ve seen that most people who beat their children were themselves beaten as children. So much of the crime and turmoil in the world is created by people who are unhappy.
And so it is true with our current preoccupation. In recent weeks, newspapers have run stories about Mohammed Atta, who is believed to have been the coordinator of the September 11th attacks. The stories portray a shy, sensitive young man who was bullied by a cruel father and who found few friends in the world. As I read the story, Mohammed Atta seemed less like a terrorist mastermind and more like one of those pathetic teenagers who shoots up his high-school cafeteria. Can it be that simple? Can this country have been brought to so much grief and heartache because a boy in Egypt was denied a few kind words 20 years ago?
The newspapers have also carried some biographic stories about Osama bin Laden. The outline is well known. Osama is one of 54 children of Mohammed Binladen, a Yemeni who grew wealthy as the building contractor preferred by the Saudi royal family. Mohammed Binladen had several wives, most of who were Saudis, but Osama’s mother was Syrian-Palestinian. Some speculate Osama and the other children of his mother were made to feel inferior by his half siblings whose mothers were Saudis. Could sibling rivalry be at the heart of the first war of the 21st century?
It could be. The other Binladen siblings are involved with Saudi Binladen Group, one of the world’s largest construction firms, with annual revenues of $5 billion. Although the siblings share in the profits, Osama has gotten none since the family disowned him in 1994. The Saudi Binladen Group, now headed by Bakr Binladen, the eldest surviving brother, not only continues its relationship with the Saudi royals, but also with the American military, building the Saudi bases for U.S. troops, whose presence in Saudi Arabia so enrages Osama.
Not surprisingly, a wealthy family like the Binladens has ties around the world, a version of “Six Degrees of Separation” involving the super-rich and powerful. Fifteen members of the Binladen family were in the U.S. on September 11th. The State Department hustled 14 of them back to Saudi Arabia on a special plane as soon as flights resumed; one brother remains in the U.S., near Boston. The Binladens have endowed several chairs of middle eastern study at American universities, and some of their investments are tended by the Carlyle Group. In recent years, former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, former Secretary of State James Baker and former President George Bush have all visited the Binladen family on behalf of the Carlyle Group. That means there is three degrees of separation between the current President Bush and Osama bin Laden. In many ways the personal is political.
In hostage situations, the police often ask a family member of the hostage taker to speak through a bullhorn, to implore him to release the innocent. Now, North America and Europe are held hostage by a man sitting in a cave in Afghanistan. I’m waiting for a word, a public call from Bakr Binladen or the Binladen family. It probably won’t help, but it couldn’t hurt.
Family Ties
The president says nations must either fight terrorists or harbor them. The Bush Doctrine – two camps, no middle ground. Let’s take that idea and run with it. There are two kinds of people in the world, good people and bad people. Leaving the bad people aside for the moment, let’s separate the good people into two camps. There are those who believe we can make the world better by political means and there are those who want to change the world through interpersonal relations.
The first group of people, the people who believe in politics, are in charge. They write down their ideas, get other people to endorse them, run for office and spend our tax dollars. None of us is really happy with the system, we all see how easily it’s corrupted, but we’re hard-pressed to find a better alternative.
The other people, the people who believe in change by personal transactions, feel if individuals were less unhappy, if we treated each other better, there would be less trouble in the world, and they’re right. We’ve seen that most people who beat their children were themselves beaten as children. So much of the crime and turmoil in the world is created by people who are unhappy.
And so it is true with our current preoccupation. In recent weeks, newspapers have run stories about Mohammed Atta, who is believed to have been the coordinator of the September 11th attacks. The stories portray a shy, sensitive young man who was bullied by a cruel father and who found few friends in the world. As I read the story, Mohammed Atta seemed less like a terrorist mastermind and more like one of those pathetic teenagers who shoots up his high-school cafeteria. Can it be that simple? Can this country have been brought to so much grief and heartache because a boy in Egypt was denied a few kind words 20 years ago?
The newspapers have also carried some biographic stories about Osama bin Laden. The outline is well known. Osama is one of 54 children of Mohammed Binladen, a Yemeni who grew wealthy as the building contractor preferred by the Saudi royal family. Mohammed Binladen had several wives, most of who were Saudis, but Osama’s mother was Syrian-Palestinian. Some speculate Osama and the other children of his mother were made to feel inferior by his half siblings whose mothers were Saudis. Could sibling rivalry be at the heart of the first war of the 21st century?
It could be. The other Binladen siblings are involved with Saudi Binladen Group, one of the world’s largest construction firms, with annual revenues of $5 billion. Although the siblings share in the profits, Osama has gotten none since the family disowned him in 1994. The Saudi Binladen Group, now headed by Bakr Binladen, the eldest surviving brother, not only continues its relationship with the Saudi royals, but also with the American military, building the Saudi bases for U.S. troops, whose presence in Saudi Arabia so enrages Osama.
Not surprisingly, a wealthy family like the Binladens has ties around the world, a version of “Six Degrees of Separation” involving the super-rich and powerful. Fifteen members of the Binladen family were in the U.S. on September 11th. The State Department hustled 14 of them back to Saudi Arabia on a special plane as soon as flights resumed; one brother remains in the U.S., near Boston. The Binladens have endowed several chairs of middle eastern study at American universities, and some of their investments are tended by the Carlyle Group. In recent years, former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, former Secretary of State James Baker and former President George Bush have all visited the Binladen family on behalf of the Carlyle Group. That means there is three degrees of separation between the current President Bush and Osama bin Laden. In many ways the personal is political.
In hostage situations, the police often ask a family member of the hostage taker to speak through a bullhorn, to implore him to release the innocent. Now, North America and Europe are held hostage by a man sitting in a cave in Afghanistan. I’m waiting for a word, a public call from Bakr Binladen or the Binladen family. It probably won’t help, but it couldn’t hurt.