Osama bin Ladin’s public statements issued from 1994 to 2004 show a desire, not to remake the West into Islamic societies, but to punish the United States for its interference in the Muslim world. This evidence does not imply that U.S. withdrawal from the Middle East would pacify the terrorists, but it does suggest that the U.S. strategy for fighting terrorism has been counterproductive.
James L. Payne is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Director of Lytton Research and Analysis.
Defense and Foreign PolicyInternational Economics and DevelopmentNorth Africa and The Middle EastTerrorism and Homeland Security
Other Independent Review articles by James L. Payne
Winter 2017/18 The Government Nobody Knows—nor Wants to Know
Summer 2016 Government Fails, Long Live Government! The Rise of “Failurism”
Fall 2014 The Real Case against Activist Global Warming Policy
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