A Businessman Admits That He 'let Go'

I Don't Like The Definition 'war Correspondent'. It Is History, Not Journalism, That Has Condemned The Middle East To War. I Think 'war Correspondent' Smells A Bit, Reeks Of False Romanticism: It Has Too Much Of The Whiff Of Victorian Reporters Who Would View Battles From Hilltops In The Company Of Ladies, Immune To Suffering, Only Occasionally Glancing Towards The Distant Pop-pop Of Cannon Fire.

I've Lived In The Middle East For Twenty-five Years. I Know Exactly How These Issues Come Up. Even My Landlord, Who Is A Moderate Lebanese Guy, Says, "but Bin Laden Says What We Think." These People Believe That Osama Bin Laden Is Being Targeted Not Because Of The World Trade Center And Washington; They Are Not Convinced By The Evidence That Has Been Produced. They Believe He's Being Targeted Because He Tells The Truth.

Whether Osama Bin Laden Is Doing It Cynically And Has No Interest In These Matters, Or Whether He's Doing It Out Of Genuine Conviction, His Voice Has A Tremendous Resonance Throughout The Arab World. One Editorial In A Lebanese Paper Said It Is A Matter Of Great Humiliation For The Arabs That The Only Man Who Can Outline, Truthfully, What Our Humiliations Are Is An Arab Who Has To Say It From A Cave In A Foreign Country.

People Turn To Violence, Because They Have No Other Avenue Left.

When You Have A Crime Against Humanity That Is So Awesome In Scale And Death, It Is More Than Permissible To Look Around And Say, Who Recently Has Been Declaring War On The United States? Of Course, The Compass Points Straight To Bin Laden.