I do not know what Al Qaeda's ultimate aim was. If the ultimate aim was to establish a geographical zone ruled by the Quran as law, then it was a strategic error to attack the US on 9/11.
They had such a zone in Afghanistan, and they could have established it in other parts of the Muslim world if they had not chosen to attack the US so violently. For violence generates counter-violence, as is evident in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I am not an Islamist. I am very critical of the US, but I don’t go on a rampage. I genuinely want to live in peace, with as little interference in my personal affairs by any state or religion as possible.
If that is one’s political wish, there are much more promising strategies to oppose US interference in other parts of the world than flying planes into US targets.
The most promising strategy would be to change the political balance in the US.
The US is proud of its democratic tradition. But it is not as though US presidents and Congress represent the actual majorities of US citizens.
In the US political system, only around half of eligible voters actually vote. Those who do not vote, such as majorities in inner-city populations, do not feel that the president and Congress represent their interests. They do not vote because they rightly believe that it doesn’t make a difference whether public affairs are run by Democrats or Republicans.
Republicans and Democrats may differ on many policy issues, but they agree on a political system that keeps all other parties out.
Voting districts are often not genuine geographical units, but are gerrymandered in a manner that ensures either a Republican or a Democrat will become the district’s representative. This is sophisticated electoral cheating, something few other established democracies tolerate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering
Elections in the US are media spectacles. Real political issues are less relevant than how skilled a candidate and their team are at generating sympathy.
Because so much in the US depends on the media, and because the media is an open market in the US, it is much smarter to use one’s war chest to influence US politics and public affairs through the media, rather than trying to wage warfare with hijacked planes and suicide bombers.
The zealous adherents of Scientology have understood this much better than the extremists of Al Qaeda.
Of course, the Scientologists, being US-based, are better positioned to employ the most promising tactics (e.g., creeping into Hollywood).
http://www.scientollywood.org/
Whom to support in US politics? Maybe the Libertarian Party (http://www.lp.org/), admittedly a small force in US politics. They claim to be the third-largest party in the US, but they are so far behind the Republicans and the Democrats that most people would not consider them a worthwhile alternative. Lifting them to just 10 percent of the vote would have an enormous impact on the US public and political landscape.
I share their high respect for personal freedom. What a person does to their own body is their own business (e.g., in the case of drug use). Where there is consent between two people, and the matter does not affect other people, no government intervention is called for. These are essential ideas about personal freedom on which the Libertarian Party focuses more strongly than any other political organization in the US, and in this, they even express a common sentiment in the country.
There are two reasons why I advocate that those who want to change the world have a stake in the Libertarian Party.
One is that the Libertarian Party expresses a very valid concern: we want as much personal freedom as possible.
The second is more clandestine: the Libertarian Party would weaken the US. And anything that weakens the US is welcome news for all who oppose a world order by US design.
The Libertarian Party advocates self-determination for ever-smaller social entities. Fine, let them dismantle the federal government and the state governments. Midwestern farming communities won’t meddle on the world stage.
They support the right for everybody to be armed to the teeth. Great. Let them be consumed in community warfare. They will then be less inclined to send troops abroad.
The Libertarian Party anyway preaches almost total disengagement from world affairs.
Having a stronger Libertarian Party in the US, or more Libertarian philosophy in other parties, would benefit almost everybody who suffers or feels infringed because of US intervention around the world.
Muslims in other parts of the world who just want to be left in peace would benefit, as non-interference is a cornerstone of the foreign policy envisioned by the Libertarian Party.
Anybody in the world who is incarcerated for drug use because of US machinations could pin some hope on the Libertarian Party, and so could all their relatives who want their family members back, for the Libertarian Party advocates the liberty to use drugs as one wishes, and the release of all who have been convicted in drug cases.
There is no point in achieving progress in Ukraine, Uganda, or Uruguay. Everybody who wants real change in the world will be more effective working for change in the United States. Supporting the Libertarian Party, or Libertarian ideas, offers considerable leverage. All those who are interested in destabilizing the US while ostensibly supporting US political ideals should think of ways to support the Libertarian Party.
Political machinations on par with the strategic considerations outlined in this article have so far been the realm primarily of the CIA. The CIA has long understood that in the worldwide political chess game, you can support organizations in a targeted country not so much because you share their vision but because of the net effect that supporting such organizations has on the political landscape.
The CIA has a long record of “peaceful” (mostly financial) undercover support for destabilizing forces in targeted countries. Such forces include pro-democracy activists, press-freedom advocates, religious lunatics, ethnic independence movements, and so on.
The strategies of the CIA and other US institutions applying similar tactics have worked well time and again, and they did play a part in the demise of the Soviet empire.