Nothing about kowtowing.
The US maintained a presence in Saudi Arabia after dislodging Iraq from Kuwait. Some extreme Muslims found this offensive and used this to justify their struggle-terrorism.
If US "intelligence" services had been awake, they would have warned US administration of the consequences of maintaining a visible ("offensive") presence in the "Holy Lands". Cultural senbreastivity however doesn't appear to have been a high priority with the USA in the post-WW2 era.
The post-Kuwait necessities could have been dealt with in a more culturally-aware manner while pursuing the objectives of preventing Saddam's Iraq being a significant threat to its neighbours. At the very least, removing the highly-visible presence in the Holy Lands would have largely "disarmed" al Qaeda and certainly removed what I believe to be the basis of the most deep-rooted justification for a struggle by means of terrorism.
The "no-fly" zones for example could have been enforced from bases outside of the sensitive area; and those who needed to be based there should have maintained a low profile and-or had acceptable beliefs.
US "intelligence" should have been convinced of how serious the al Qaeda kooks really were-are in 1993; and administration should have taken action to ameliorate ASAP.
Extremists are simply more visible. The vast majority of Muslims have the same basic priorities as those of other mainstream religions. -- "Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning, Perth, Western Australia ASCII ribbon campaign Economist E*con"o*mist-, n. X against HTML mail One with a ready explanation as to why and postings his last prediction was so wrong
