In a speech given at Stanford University in February 2006, former British terrorism chief David Omand said: ” ‘The aim of the al Qaeda leadership for the present phase of their campaign is not just to attack us. It is to try to create the impression throughout the Muslim world that a global struggle against oppression is under way in which violent jihad against us is a personal duty since, in their eyes, the policies of the US and its allies towards the Muslim world are incurably discriminatory and at heart colonial. Through constantly tempting us into over-reaction, they want to expose our values as fragile and hypocritical, suppressing civil rights at home and supporting apostate and repressive governments overseas. We should recognise their motive as the well-understood tactic of the revolutionary through the ages, and not fall for it.’ “ [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Ron Suskind, The Way of the World, Pages 198-199