Anti-Climacus

QUOTE:

"'I've been aware of madness in the Islamic world. I've written about it. The madness of people who have fallen behind technically, and who do not have the will to make the intellectual effort to catch up. I was aware of the religious hatred, I was aware of the indifference to life. I was aware of the anti-civilisation aspect of the new fundamentalism. But I had no idea it had gone so far -- the madness. The idea of their strength is an illusion. Nothing is coming from within. The terrorists can fly a plane, but what they can't do is build a plane. What they can't do is build those towers. I think people have spoken much rubbish about that event. The poor revenging themselves on the rich! It's nothing but an aspect of religious hatred. And that is so hard to deal with, or even contemplate. You can deal with the poor striking out, but you can't deal with the threat of a universal religious war.' Though he approved of the recent war in Afghanistan, he is keenly aware of the inherent absurdity of the current war on terrorism: 'Your biggest enemy is your great ally -- Saudi Arabia -- and the foot-soldiers of the terror come from your other ally -- Pakistan.--'"

-V.S. Naipaul