To say that my dog is white and my house is white does not imply that my dog is a house. Lawrence _____ From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 1:44 PM To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants Okay, you're big on formal logic. So explain this to me: how does my belief that Reality doesn't always fit into Aristotelian parameters indicate or imply that my world-view is jihadist or aligned with Al Quaeda? I imagine some members of Al AQaeda brush their teeth also. Julie Krueger (one-legged stools are difficult to make sturdy) ========Original Message======== Subj: [lit-ideas] Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants Date: 1/15/2007 2:55:46 P.M. Central Standard Time From: lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx To: Lit-Ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent on: Several here on Lit-Ideas have expressed their disdain for logic, Aristotelian thinking, reasoning, etc. They may be interested in finding that their views are shared by some notable others. On page 302 of The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright writes, about Al Qaeda trainees being prepared for the 9/11 plot: "Their text was a 180-page manual, Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants, which included chapters on counterfeiting, weapons training, security, and espionage. 'The confrontation that we are calling for with the apostate regimes does not know Socratic debates . . . Platonic ideals . . . nor Aristotelian diplomacy,' the manual begins. 'But it does know the dialogue of bullets, the ideals of assassination, bombing and destruction, and the diplomacy of the canon and machine gun.'" Of course they were not initially told what they would be assigned to do, but in general, "The targets were always Americans, either U.S., soldiers or vehicles, but there were other, 'enemies of Islam,' according to the handwritten notes of a student in an al-Qaeda ideology class. 1. Heretics (the Mubaraks of the world) 2. Shiites 3. America 4. Israel" Their goals were (are) 1. Establishing the rule of God on Earth 2. Attaining martyrdom in the cause of God. 3. Purification of the ranks of Islam from the elements of depravity. Lawrence