I have to go with Infanteer on this one. The symbolism of those twin towers, standing there at the gateway of the greatest city, of the greatest nation, represented the greed, power, and hubris of the American people in the second half of the 20th Century. They represented so much of the "why" behind the tremendous controlling presence established by the U.S. around the globe, a presence that remains the greatest in the Middle East as it has not evolved or rolled back there nearly to the degree it has in Europe, Asia or even Latin America. What better target than the WTC if one just wanted to walk up this great Tiger of a country and kick it square in the balls?? The targeting of the Pentagon, as the hub of the military forces that have enforced those control measures, and the unfulfilled targeting of the Capital/White house all make tremendous symbolic sense.

That said though, I believe that there certainly are those who are attracted to AQ's movement that do fear globalization; and perhaps those are the most deeply religious of their supporters. Just as the invention of the printing press unleashed an information age that led to the reformation of Christianity, with the associated tremendous social and political upheavals of that era; so too is the information technology fueling globalization placing reformatory pressures on Islam as well. There will be those who press for change and those who cling equally steadfastly to maintaining an exaggerated, and probably largely fictional and romanticized version of how they believe Islam is supposed to be. This is the great friction within Islam that will likely grow and forever change the face of that culture, the balance of power, and beliefs of the faithful in ways that are impossible to predict and totally and completely independent of the political objectives of AQ. It is like the monster wave crashing toward the shore that AQ is riding to serve their own ends. But such a wave can pick up everything in its path. I really think we need to do a better job of understanding both dynamics separately, as well as how they interact together, but to not conflate them as one homogeneous dynamic, because they are not.

Their world is changing in ways that are scary and unpredictable, and that will lead to powerful and unpredictable reactions in some. We can't do much about that and should not attempt to do so. We can, however, assess and adjust our foreign policies and relationships in the region to be less controlling and more respective of local dynamics of popular will and governance. As Dave Maxwell says... something about not wanting to be the minnow caught between two copulating whales.