Reply #28: The *correct* answer...

[SlipperySlope]

Enough of this "they hate us for our freedoms" junk. Try this on for size:

1: Osama bin Laden was the leader of an organization/movement called al Qaeda.

2: In 1996, bin Laden declared war on the United States. (Google on "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places")

3: The 9/11 attack was a single offensive in the context of this larger war. Earlier attacks included the bombing of the Khobar towers, bombing of US Embassies in Africa, attack on the USS Cole, etc.

So, the immediate answer to your question of "why were we attacked" is that it was merely the latest offensive in an ongoing war. Which leads to the question "Why is al Qaeda at war with us?".

Sometimes leaders lie when they explain their reasons for going to war. But their stated reasons are important, because it is those reasons that their followers believe and are motivated by. To understand how bin Laden motived his followers, you simply have to read his writings. Basically, his declaration of war on the United States makes two demands:

A: That the United States cease support for Israel.
B: That the United States remove all troops from Saudi Arabia.

The linking of these two demands is interesting, and it reveals something about bin Laden's motivation. Demanding that we let Israel fall immediately gives him credibility to much of the Muslim world. It is, of course, the most sensitive political topic in the middle east. bin Laden uses his credibility on this topic to build a link to what he really cares about - the removal of troops from Saudi Arabia.

bin Laden frames the presence of U.S. troops as an Islamic religious issue. He says that infidels should not be so close to the "two holy places" of Islam. But his real agenda was that bin Laden planned on overthrowing the government of Saudi Arabia, and he needed the US troops out because they would be a force that could resist his planned Wahhabi uprising.

That help?