What is the core problem which motivated the 9/11 attacks?

New Video:
Q: What is the core problem which motivated the 9/11 terrorists? What is fueling this terrorism?

A: U.S. foreign policies of supporting Israel, supporting other repressive regimes and now the war in Iraq, fuel terrorism.

Amy Goodman interviewed Noam Chomsky 10/18/04. Coming Soon: New video from that interview

AMY GOODMAN: Do you think that the Israel-Palestine conflict is fueling a lot of this?

NOAM CHOMSKY: It's undoubtedly fueling, as it has for years, the anger and the fear of the United States throughout the world, and in particular, in the Muslim countries, and it's creating a reservoir for bin Laden. Actually, you can read it even in the tepid words of the 9/11 Commission. They say that bin Laden gains an audience from US actions in Iraq, Israel-Palestine, and support of repressive regimes. We’ve known that, anybody who's had their eyes open knew that for decades. It's nice that they said it, but that's the core of the problem of what we call terrorism, the terrorism, the bad guys. As long as they have an audience and we help bin laden and others mobilize it, it's going to increase the threat of terror, just as the war in Iraq did, predictably.

AMY GOODMAN: So what do you think needs to happen with Israel and Palestine?

NOAM CHOMSKY: Israel and Palestine? The US should join the overwhelming international consensus, which it's been blocking for 30 years, and tell Israel it’s got to get out of the territories. There has to be a settlement on the international border, some adjustment this and that way. And then, I would hope, go on from there, if the cycle of violence gets reduced, to closer to closer integration, but that's in the longer term. That's a first step, it's feasible, and the majority of the American population is in favor of it and has been for a long time. There's almost no opposition to it in the world outside of the US and Israel. And yeah, it could be done. It's not perfect, it's not wonderful. There are plans on the table which come close, and could be fixed. What's blocking them is our refusal to do it, not the population again. The voice of the population is out of this discussion. You know what percentage of the American population thinks we should lean towards support of Israel, instead of taking a neutral position? The latest polls about a week ago, 17%. Now, a majority of the population thinks that we ought to equalize aid to Israel and Palestine, and we should deny aid to either one that refuses negotiations, which would entail denying it to Israel. That's the majority of the population. Those results are so unacceptable, the press won't report them.
Noam Chomsky on the State of the Nation, Iraq and the Election
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See: Perceptions 2004 report PDF