>>>I agree here, too, generally. Where I disagree is that I don't think trade or making American brands coveted will remove the "Great Satan" label as that comes from a different mentality. I mean, look, there are crowds in the streets of Middle Eastern cities burning the American flag while sipping Coke and wearing Nikes.
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>>Why do you think 'great satan' is comming from 'mentality' ? Do you actually think that young Palestinians or Iraqees or some other crowds burn American flag because they envy your sunday BBQ? Nothing to do with US foreign policies at all ?
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>Now let's be fair. The U.S. is guilty of many things, and its policies are often more a tragedy than anything else with or without good intentions. IMHO, The U.S. needs to pull out of every country everywhere and keep its $ and its people at home. When a country lets any business, such as McDonalds, in the door though, that is the fault of the country which lets it in and not the U.S. However, most of those who are out there burning the U.S. flag and becoming suicide bombers or planting IEDS are doing it 1: for the money, 2: because a religious leader told them they should and filled their minds with extremist ideology.
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>One, if not the, of the most basic and common causes of terrorism is poverty. If world poverty were eradicted, then terrorism and extreme ideologies will trickle down to almost nothing.

Here we have at least half of an agreement <g>

Burning flag on a square is one thing, but to plant the bomb or become suicide bomber is completly different matter.
I don't believe religion is driving force for this in any significant way.

As you acknowledged it is more likely the misery of situation (powerty/injustice) that turns people into suicide bombers.
When you have way to many people with nothing else to lose except their own life (take Palestinians for instance!) , and when someone is offering substantial money to his/her family and *honour&heavens* to the bomber himself, then this is more likely to happen.

If religion or 'mentality' was main reason behind suicide bombings, then you would have hundreds of thousands of suicide bombers World wide, as muslims are by nature very very religious people and they populate entire world in large numbers. But story that Muslims are inclined to throw more bombs then the others is simply myth/fabrication by mass media, Holywood screenplay writers, various rogue/speculative journalists etc. which is going on for past 20 or more years. (One of your quotes to A.H. comes to mind)

There are radical muslim rooted movements out there but, but nothing even remotely close to what has been presented to public.
Motives/means and real actions are different from movement to movement. How do you distinguish who is 'terrorist', who is resistance fighter, who is pettit and who is big criminal, part of some big organised (international) crime ring ?
There is entire jungle out there, spectar of motives interests and struggles ranging from drugs, guns, human organs trafficking rings to radical terrorist organisations and all the way to genuine resistance fighters against foreign occupation and/or injustice.
When you see group of people from middle east holding guns in some rough terrain what is the first association that crosses your mind ? Terrorist group ! Al-qaeda! Whereas they might be very well ordinary militia guarding their own willage, or armed group of drug or gun smugglers eighter way. Every now and then we see glimpse, TV clip or picture of people like this in completely unrelated context and then impression is made that everybody is terrorist out there ...

With 9/11 events this big lies about Muslims as major threat became almost like widely accepted *truth*, whereas what is happening today in essence is sad culmination of that very motion. (Who ever knocked towers did it for money !)
US official policy used this tragic event and acompannying sentiment to take all this thing to entirely 'new level'
to almost complete madness. Two illegal invasions in 2 years against muslim countries are supposed to solve all problems.
So now Muslims are now almost officially branded as enemies. Special Removal Units, Gitmo, wild HLS and other agencies became business as usual. Kidnapping muslim at airport is no longer even a HR violation! (they are presumed terrorists anyway)

That is why someone would speculate Obama is muslim whereas he is not. Term 'Muslim' in US is already so badly derrogated
that even dirty campaign players recognise this fact as 'prevailing market conditions'
McCain even have some ugly paramilitary troop playing Al-qaeda training camp in one of his campaign clips.
Why; Those 'terrorists' are almost main thing that justifies his purpose as candidate. They represent 'threat' and he represent 'saviour'.
His campaign masters obviosely recognise impact of this big fat lie that has been consumed already.

Set rant off / back to your post<g>;
Yes, eradicating powerty/unjustice would defenetely help the situation, aldough at this point in time where situation is way way out of control in so many ways, something as hard to achieve as this bold/noble goal is downsized to a merely 'good start' or 'step in right direction'. Or maybe not even close. I remember listenning to that lady from 'Amnesty Internatonal' (I think you pointed to video) who basically said that problem can be only solved at source;
That source is Arab/Israeli conflict and resulting Palestine problem. Only when this (big) problem is solved, things will eventually settle down. I believe this FP issue should be tackled first (right after or together with withdrawing from Iraq) , by any US president that really wants to end wars, terrorisam and bring peace/prosperity to US.
There is that Chineese saying ; 'If you have to swalow 3 frogs, you should by all means swalow biggest one first. The rest will go down much easier' Only problem in this case is - How to identify and catch biggest frog <g>.
But that is only If solution and peace become general course of US as a country. Otherwise some future US president will have to swalow range of crocodiles rather then frogs to solve more or less the same problem.

Peace :)
Sergio