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Entry: Mr. bin Laden, Meet Mr. Kennan--A New Containment Policy Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/mr_bin_laden_meet_mr_kennan_a_new_containment_policy#19432 Post contents: I think there are a few things that should be pointed out: 1. The term "al-Qaeda" is something of a misnomer. Essentially any Arab that went to fight in conflicts such as those in Afghanistan, Bosnia, or Chechnya have been all grouped as al-Qaeda, even if they had nothing to do with Usama bin Laden or his group. Many Muslims saw it as a religious duty to go help oppressed Muslims in Bosnia, Chechnya, Kashmir, etc, yet had nothing to with conspiracies to attack the West or launch some global jihad. Indeed, you will find that many of the same people that fought in these conflicts were opposed to the actions and ideology of bin Laden. In the post-9/11 world the American gov. bought into the notion that every far-flung Muslim insurgency was a thread in al-Qaeda's web, and it seems that many otherwise rational people have fallen for this flawed narrative as well. 2. Usama bin Laden, while sympathizing with these various Muslim insurgencies, was focused primarily on expelling the American military from the Arabian peninsula. Neither he, nor his organization, played any key role in any of these insurgencies, with the except of the civil war between the Taliban and the North Alliance. (It is also important to note that numerous other groups maintained their own paramilitary training camps in Afghanistan to prepare for their own local insurgencies in Chechnya, Kashmir, Algeria, etc. These groups had little to do with al-Qaeda or anti-American terrorism.) 3. Kosovo and the pre-NATO intervention insurgency there had nothing to do with al-Qaeda. There is no sinister conspiracy to use Kosovo or Bosnia to establish some pre-Caliphate beachhead. The Kosovar Albanians have their own agenda. One can disagree with providing the Kosovar Albanians with independence, but is really disingenuous to suggest, as many have, that they are establishing some kind of radical Islamic state. The KLA may have utilized the assistance of some Arab-Afghans, but it doesn't mean that they are another thread of the Qaeda web. This is not to provided an apologetic rendering of the KLA, their transgressions are well known, but people shouldn't let their emotions or their ideology get the best of them. That is just my 2 cents. Sent at: 2008 09 07