I cannot give an experienced opinon regarding Al Quaida as I have not been to Iraq and experienced life there. However, I have experienced life in the Moslem Autonomous Region under martial law in Mindanao, Phililppines, during the mid 1980's when I was assigned there by the US Peace Corps. The name of the dominant Moslem guerilla group was the MNLF (Moro Nat. Liberation Group) which had been fighting the govt. for 15 yrs. (The non-Moselm parts of Mindanao were also infiltrated with the Communist guerilla group the NPA).The area I was sent to had been closed off to all tourists and even American military for 14 years, so we entered and saw what is was like for a peoples to have have been cut off from the outside world, to have received very little in the way of outside goods, scanty electricity anywhere, outdated sewage systems, no libraries (i.e. outside information, different ways of thought, etc.), no telephones, etc. etc. The MNLF was fighting to regain their lands that had been reduced when Marcos sent waves of settlers from the booming Christian populations in northern Luzon, expecting the Moslems to graciously (?) concede...who knows. I had both Christian settler and Moslem co-workers. I was eventually approached by my Moselm co-workers to visit their village and people, on an oath of sacred hospitality. When I went with them, as poor as conditions where in the settler area where I was installed (the "Neutral Zone" which was controlled at least most of the time by the military), conditions were even more destitute in the Moslem region. Their 'village' was made of lean-to shacks with no floors,
only one communal well where all washing was done in the open, no private toilets except for open air pit trenches, no trees for shade in the sweltering hot tropic heat, only small amounts of land tilled for food as equipment/carabao of all kind seemed lacking. I could understand why people might be driven to fight given an implacable mandate to yield the more prosperous lands. Who also owned alot of prosperous lands in Mindanao were American agricultural corporations.... What mostly gets people is the thought of unending despair, and then irrational decisions are easier to justify. (i.e. nothing to lose). This situation in Mindanao still continues with spates of violence then quiet repeated for at least 30-odd years now, it began in the 1970's, don't remember exactly when. What I hope and pray for the people of Iraq is a lifting of their economic despair through these changes to come, which will help to alleviate destitution and insecurity, slowly reducing a tendency to support violence. (and this is of course simplifying the situation greatly) Now as to professional terrorists, I am rather cynical that they are probably another term for mercenaries, hired by the Lord or Devil knows who to create whatever mayham their employers desire and for which they are well appear to be well funded. After the overthrow of Marcos, the new regime under Mrs. Aquino uncovered evidence of several instances where military troops had "dressed up" in the garb of "guerillas" in order to attack here and there, under the orders of the Marcos govt. He then soon was able to for "security" reasons to suspend the constitution...indefinitely...for 20 years. And the US govt was closely aligned with the Marcos regime. (Like the situation in Iraq where 'terrorist' groups receive outside support, it was said Quadafi (sp?) supported the MNLF, and China supported the NPA, so the US did have some legitimate concern about a potential govt destabilization in the Philippines, etc. and who knows how many other players...) So we Americans need to rein in our excesses which hurt the viability of decent life in other countries, as I hope we do some measures beyond the small ones in place to rectify the abuses we have heaped upon the Native American peoples in this land. It is largely a play of pathological greed/control versus a balance of reason/sanity in economics and government that must be monitored by all.