Indian War parallels

[tequila]

But there is the oil issue. Extractive economies almost never benefit any but a few. In the end, we will have figuratively "stolen" the value of their land, which I guess is similar to stealing their land.

This forms a part of the terrorist manifesto, but it is not convincing to many IMO. The vast majority of the Islamic world does not live in oil states. I would argue that the key "evidence" of imperialism for the vast majority of Muslims is represented in Israel's policies towards the Palestinians and the occupation of Iraq. However, there are many other things to factor in, especially since as Kilcullen has noted the disaggregation of conflicts and issues represents a crucial part of our IO message. For instance, anti-Americanism in Pakistan is a far different animal with different motivations than anti-Americanism in Saudi Arabia, for instance.

I disagree with those who argue that things like this represent Muslim disgruntlement with the West.