“Any strong Muslim regime that threatens Israel, and we did. He said the Americans only want oil, and, of course, Iraq has the second-largest reserves. And he said that we will always replace God's law with manmade law. And finally that we intended to occupy and destroy Islamic sanctities. And I suspect that in our government, very few people knew that Iraq was the second-holiest place in Islam, after the Arabian Peninsula.” PeopleWantSaidGovernmentLawCoursesStrongIslamIraqIsraelOilIslamicSuspectsRegimesReservesSanctityArabianPeninsulas Author:Michael Scheuer
“But more important, I think, is the criticism bin Laden has made publicly over the past 10 years that Muslim governments cannot even protect their own people. And more than that, they'll often collude with the infidels. And if you recall, the initial reaction of the Arab league was to criticize Hezbollah and damn Hezbollah for the war. And they eventually had to turn 180degrees and support Hezbollah.” PeopleIfsThinkingYearsMadeImportantWarGovernmentPastTurnsSupportProtectCriticismReactionsDamnLeagueCriticizeRecallsInitialsBin LadenOver The PastInfidelHezbollah Author:Michael Scheuer
“So in a sense, that little war in the Levant had a horrendous effect in terms of the stability of countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, over the long term. Because once again, it proved to Muslims that their governments couldn't protect them and would side with the enemy.” LittlesLongWarCountryGovernmentSidesTermEnemyEffectsProtectLong TermStabilityEgyptArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudisKuwait Author:Michael Scheuer
“Although my own view is that bin Laden does not want to stage an attack that looks like 9/11 in Europe simply because he does not want to be the agent of Trans-Atlantic reconciliation. I think they will continue to do attacks like Madrid, the British attack, the subway systems, because those attacks have proven that the European response so far has been to blame the domestic government, not to side with the Americans.” ThinkingWantLooksDoeHas BeensGovernmentSidesMy OwnViewsStageEuropeBlameResponseBritishAgentsProvenReconciliationBin LadenTransSubwayMadrid Author:Michael Scheuer
“What I tried to do is to present the evidence that's available and that no one has been able to refute. Not even the Arab governments who own their media have been able to denigrate bin Laden as a man.” MenHas BeensGovernmentAbleMediaEvidenceAvailableBin Laden Author:Michael Scheuer
“In terms of Iraq, al Qaeda valued Iraq because we destroyed a government it wanted destroyed and because we put soldiers on the ground and forces that they could attack. Al Qaeda is basically an insurgent organization that was formed on the model of the Afghan groups. And being bred in that war, they value a contiguous safe haven as much as anything else.” WarGovernmentWantedValuesForceTermGroupsHavensSafeModelsOrganizationSoldierIraqDestroyedAlsAl QaedaInsurgentSafe HavenAfghan Author:Michael Scheuer
“I also think that there is a huge failure in the American education system to educate Americans about where we, our system, our government, came from. And to some extent this failure is shared in places like Britain and Canada and Australia.” ThinkingGovernmentHugeBritainCanadaAustraliaEducateEducation SystemAmerican EducationAmerican Education System Author:Michael Scheuer
“There is no way to avoid the reality that the American government in the past years has been the most spectacularly hypocrisy-driven government in the world. We rival the Soviet Union in some stages, in some ways, in hypocrisy.” WorldWayYearsHas BeensRealityGovernmentPastStageUnionsDrivenHypocrisySovietSoviet UnionRivalsAmerican Government Author:Michael Scheuer
“You cannot possibly expect even the most illiterate person on Earth to believe that you really want a democracy in Iraq while you are paying Mubarak $3 billion a year to pretend he doesn't hate Israel. And you're providing the military and diplomatic umbrella that protects the fascist government, if you will, of the al Sauds.” IfsWantYearsBelievePersonsGovernmentEarthHateDemocracyMilitaryProtectIraqIsraelBillionsAlsProvidingFascistsUmbrellaDiplomaticIlliterateMubarakIlliterate Person Author:Michael Scheuer
“I know these days it sounds a little odd, but American governments are very fearful of European reaction. They were afraid we would be considered gunslingers.” KnowsLittlesGovernmentWould BeSoundReactionsThese DaysOddFearfulAmerican GovernmentGunslinger Author:Michael Scheuer
