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Originally Posted by dor  Why do you think 99% of Americans don't the know real reason and Bush never said the real reason and to this day most American media outlets won't say the real reason? Let's see what Bin Laden actually said:
(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you?
Q2)What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?
As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:
(1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us.
a) You attacked us in Palestine:
(i) Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years.[B] The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; <snip> |
This may be what he said, but it's not Bin Laden's real cause. His vocalized link to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is seen mostly as a PR campaign to rally support among Muslims. Actual history goes like this: during the Soviet-Afghanistan war which started in 1979, the US actively supported Bin Laden and his Mujahideen which formed the core of the resistance to the Soviet invasion.
Fast forward to 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The Saudi royal family was very concerned that Hussein would invade Saudi Arabia. Osama Bin Laden (who by the way was born to a wealthy Saudi family) offered the royal family to provide protection from Hussein using his Mujahideen. They didn't take him very seriously and basically told him to take a hike. Now this is where it gets interesting.
Wikipedia quote:
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After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, bin Laden offered to help defend Saudi Arabia (with 12,000 armed men) but was rebuffed by the Saudi government. Bin Laden publicly denounced his government's dependence on the U.S. military and demanded an end to the presence of foreign military bases in the country. According to reports (by the BBC and others), the 1990/91 deployment of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia in connection with the Gulf War upset Muslims because the Saudi government claims legitimacy based on their role as guardians of the sacred Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina.
After the Gulf War cease-fire agreement left Saddam Hussein remaining in power in Iraq, the ongoing presence of long-term bases for non-Muslim U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia continued to undermine the Saudi rulers' perceived legitimacy and inflamed anti-government Islamist militants, including bin Laden.
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After openly criticizing the Saudi royal family for allowing the US to keep military bases on sacred Muslim soil, Bin Laden was exiled to Sudan (later, due to international pressure he was forced to move to Afghanistan). US military presence in Saudi Arabia was
the real reason for why Bin Laden started attacking US targets. US military bases in Saudi Arabia were finally removed in 2003, but the damage has been long done.
The terrorist attacks by Bin Laden ultimately come down to two fatal mistakes made by the US government. First was leaving Saddam Hussein in power after the first Gulf War. This should be clear to everyone right now considering that a second war was started anyway, during which Hussein was removed and eventually executed.
The second major mistake was leaving a military presence in Saudi Arabia. This was probably not necessary even with Saddam in power, but certainly wouldn't have been necessary if he was removed from power during the first Gulf War. I think it's very likely that Bin Laden wouldn't have become a terrorist if US troops weren't left in Saudi Arabia for so long, even if they were put there temporarily to drive Saddam out of Kuwait.
It's shocking how many mistakes the US government has made over the years by
staging coups (ever wonder why Iran hates us so much?),
supporting dictators (this particular link is ironically about US support for Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, with a great photo of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Hussein's hand), and interfering with other countries' governments in all kinds of ways. A lot of this history gets forgotten by the younger generations. Sadly, all our government tells us is that some bad guys decided to attack our country for no reason. Things are a lot more complex than that. Americans need to start learning history if they are to understand the current political world climate.