Miachael Scheuer accepts Osama bin Laden's premise that his wave of terror is motivated by specific complaints such as US aid to Israel and US stationing of troops in Saudia Arabia rather than being a fulminant recrudescence of a millennium of jihad as suggested by Andrew Bostom in his article Doctors of Death. This is a false premise. It is based on bin Laden's communications with the West in English. But when bin Laden communicates with other Muslims in Arabic, it becomes clear that the attacks are motivated solely or principally on the Islamic quest for world domination and would not be affected by a change in our foreign policy. For translations of the communications in Arabic see The Al Qaeda Reader by Raymond Ibrahim.



It is also well known that bin Laden and al Zawahiri recognize the importance of the media war and expend a considerable effort to advance their cause by taqiyya, that is dissimulation designed to advance the cause of Islam. Scheuer has been duped into helping them.