Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[sylvester80]

Bush's current policies aren't the answer to the fundamental problem that existed BEFORE 9/11 and exists even more so AFTER 9/11.

Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash. put it best:

"We've got to ask, why is this man (bin Laden) so popular around the world?" Murray was quoted as saying in The (Vancouver) Columbian newspaper. "Why are people so supportive of him in many countries that are riddled with poverty?"

Murray said the answer may be unpopular, but worth considering.

"He's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day-care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven't done that."

She added: "How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that, rather than just being the people who are going to bomb Iraq and go to Afghanistan?"

"A Defense Department fact sheet indicated bin Laden had imported heavy equipment to build roads, tunnels, hospitals and storage facilities in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation and in connection with the establishment of paramilitary training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mark Burgess, an analyst with the Center for Defense Information, a nonpartisan group that tracks defense issues, said bin Laden spent five years in Sudan using his own money to fund a number of infrastructure projects for the government.

"He and his organization have been involved in various welfare-type projects and charitable work," Burgess said.

Michael Swetnam, a terrorism expert who co-wrote a book on bin Laden and al-Qaida, told The Associated Press that the terrorist leader has been on a mission to build schools, roads and even homes for widows of those killed in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan."