hal@finney.org wrote
> Of these, I think Open Society and Self-Direction are the most relevant
> to understanding the current crisis. The Arab nations lack openness, and
> people are generally not able to direct their own lives, especially women.
>
I agree. but I have an important point to make that is not quite on
topic:
We must be very careful to distinguish "arab" and "islamic".
Islam is a religion. "Arab" refers to an ethnic group. Your point
is relevant to theocratic Islamic governments, whether or not they are
Arabic.
Osama bin Laden is an arab. The Taliban are not. Most Afghans are not
arabic, but they are islamic. As far as I can tell, there is no
ethnic majority in Afghanistan, anthough the pathans are a plurality.
The rise of islamic fundamdentalism in Afghanistan appears to be a
a recent import, brought by arabs (mostly from Saudi Arabia) as a
side effect of the pan-islamic recruitment of guerillas during the
war against the soviets.
It is critical to keep our terms straight. Otherwise, we have no
hope of understandoing the situation
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