Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Thank you for publishing the full text the 1998 interview with Osama bin Laden in today’s Sunday Telegraph. It made very interesting reading ('Ever since I can recall, I despised and felt hatred towards Americans', 07/10/2001).

However, the introductory comments, referring to “the fanatical madness of Osama bin Laden [being] chillingly revealed in the interview" reveal an unhealthy degree of narrow-mindedness and self-righteousness on the part of the author.

 

I am far from being on the side of Bin Laden, and consider his calls to violence (Jihad) evil and abhorrent, but I can nevertheless, even without being an Arab or a Muslim, understand and feel some sympathy for his point of view.

 

It is the West which is interfering massively in Muslim countries, stationing troops there, stealing their oil, corrupting their rulers, supporting Israeli occupation of Arab territory and their continued subjugation and humiliation of the Palestinians.

 

Of course the West has to protect itself from acts of terror, but if we didn’t behave so selfishly and self-righteously, we might not have to.