Terrorism not religiously motivated?

I referenced this book in the below post, but thought I would comment in a separate post because it's very important. The book is called Dying to Win : The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, by Robert Pape.

The description from Buzzflash:

What if the whole concept of Bush's "Crusade" against Islamic fundamentalists is flawed? What if the motivation of terrorists, particularly suicide bombers, is political and not religious in terms of goals?

Well, then, Lucy, "We've got a problem here!"

This book is based on a thorough study of suicide bombings and reveals that the Bush "war on terrorism" is fundamentally flawed because it does not deal with the political strategic goals of the terrorists. Among the books findings is that "Every suicide terrorist campaign has had a clear goal that is secular and political: to compel a modern democracy to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland."

Among the other interesting findings of note is this fact: "With data from more than 460 such attackers -- including the names of 333 -- we know that these individuals are not mainly poor, desperate criminals or uneducated religious fanatics, but are often well-educated, middle-class political activists."

Although we don't agree with all of the conclusions by the author, Robert Pape, an associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago, we agree with most of them, and highly value this book because its conclusions are based on research and science, not the radical ideological beliefs of the Busheviks.

Pape concludes that "the idea that all Muslims around the world are quietly anti-American because Islam encourages hatred for American values for democracy and free markets does not square with the facts. Indeed, robust evidence shows that American military policies, not revulsion against Western political and economic values, are driving anti-Americanism among Muslims."

Ah, there's the Bushevik rub. The more we try to conquer Islamic countries militarily, the more we increase terrorist attacks.

That's quite a pickle the Busheviks have got us into.

Emphasis is mine.... because to this day I am still amazed by simplistic thinkers who believe the military is going to "win this war". Get your mind untracked from clashing armies of combatants. That is not the world anymore.

It is also critical to realize that Muslims do NOT hate "American style" freedom. After all, who would?

Right wing idiots are trying to convince Americans that Muslims are waging a holy war, and that regardless of what the United States does, they will still hate us, want to attack us, and "push their ideology" on us. They point to isolated examples and attempt to convince everyone to extrapolate it to broader implications. That is one of their favorite tactics.

That's the biggest pile of made up bullshit there is. It is completely contradicted by the facts. That's why the Bush administration, and in fact the entire right wing, is so dangerous. They create their policies around invalid assumptions.

And who is the mover and shaker in all of this? Bin Laden. He moved the most powerful nation in the history of the world into complete insanity, doing exactly what he had hoped for, and inflaming the entire world.