Message #1281

[AndyHB]

I think the main difference - or THE difference, is that Bin Laden murdered thousands of INNOCENT people - whereas he was hardly that(!)

But innocent by whose standards, Eli?  Those of the West, whose actions over the past centuries have often been based on greed, power, pride even, in some cases, revenge all too often meted out on completely innocent people?  Think, for instance, of the thousands of Indians who were swept into poverty when the Manchester cotton mills destroyed the Indian cotton industry in the 18th century; or the 'Kenyans' who were herded into concentration camps in reprisal for the Mau-Mau uprising in the 1950s; I could go on.  Those of Western Christianity, with actions all too often identical with their political compatriots?  Or those of the Muslims who have so often been the butt of those actions in recent years?  Remember that Bin Laden, like that other bete noire Saddam Hussein, was armed and financially supported for many years by the very hand he finally bit in his various attacks.

When all is taken into account, who is really responsible for the actions of both Hussein and Bin Laden?