Stage Wright: His Trip To Al Qaeda, And Why Lawrence Wright Is Still Very, Very Scared

“But I was for the most part seen as someone that was trying to get at the truth, and even though there were oftentimes such enormous divides that it seemed like there’d be nothing — I mean, the last day in Egypt, I had an argument with Esam El-Arian, who was one of the Muslim Brothers’ head chiefs, and he had just gotten out of prison, and he and I had a really noisy argument. I just had it.

I was just fed up at that point with the Islamist bulls***. And I was just not in the mood to brook anymore of it, so we really had a very ugly argument. And he’s one of the better people in the Muslim Brothers; it could be that he’s someone that we could look to work with [trying] to establish democracy in Egypt. But it’s just sometimes there’s just no common ground, and it’s hard to pretend that there is.”

I thought it was an interesting read, this interview, and appreciated his insights. To say that we have no common ground with our Islamic brothers and sisters is the BS though, in my opinion. We are all members of the human family, with God as our father. We all have the same air that we breathe and the same water and food necessary for life. The hopelessness he expressed during this interview, that we would be attacked again, that our intelligence is so flawed it is worse than before 9-11, these are serious charges and imply a hand wringing futuilty about the spread of Democracy in our world.
I am much more optimistic about the spread of democracy in the middle east than this man who just spent five years talking to islamic terrorists. But I suppose if I had spent a couple years talking with murderers and thugs, that would be my take on things too.
His video on Osama contains fascinating insights to the mind of the top terrorist and his followers…
“No, Humiliation is a choice, the humiliated have a moral license to regain their dignity, they are entitled to hate and hatred is delicious, the most narcotic emotion. The truth is, humiliation sells.”
I appreciate the fact that this man went and conducted the interviews, talked, wrote, and has now published and is promoting his insights. His voice needs to be heard. Wether the democritization of the middle east takes ten years, or ten decades, the fact is that the steps taken these past four years during the war are having a positive effect overall and will mark the turning point towards democracy wether or not journalists like Mr. Wright can see it or not.
Will we get hit again on American soil by terrorists? Probably. But this does not mean that Iraqs first toddling steps towards freedom have been a mistake or in vain. The American Experiment tooks decades to gel and we had our own fights and “one step forward, one step back” moments when it would have been easy to disband the Federal Government and break apart into individual states and mob rule.
A Constitutional Representative Republic only works with a moral and honest people. I have moments of wondering how much longer our own republic will stand, when I consider the moral rot that underpines our people. I figure the best thing I can do for my country is to be a moral person myself, and try to teach my own family and those in my sphere of influence moral principles and hope that they then choose the right.
Jenny Hatch