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February 26, 2004

The Caliphate

What is Osama talking about

In the comments, John makes a-- erm-- comment. The answer is:
The Ottomans had ruled the region for 600 years or so, and brought varying degrees of political harmony under the Sultanate and religious unity under the Caliphate. The 1920 treaty did away with the political order ... In bin Laden's universe, that was when everything started to go wrong. Viewed in that context, his plots against the Saudi and Jordanian monarchies make perfect sense. They are products of this original sin, the establishment of the political order of the Middle East by the Allied powers 80 years ago.

Posted by Andrew at February 26, 2004 09:58 AM

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Comments

I had actually looked this up on wikipedia after posting the comment, and had realized that you were technically right.

Since you usually don't respond to my comments, I figured it didn't matter much.

Sorry.

Posted by: John Foelster at February 27, 2004 09:42 AM

John,
I do respond to just about everything posted to my blog. But I do a terrible job at being in front of the keyboard when I do so. I am trying to do a better job of this, which is why I put up a post on your point. Sir, the fault is mine...

Posted by: Andrew Cory at February 27, 2004 11:18 AM