Dear Mr. Sina:

I think that you are doing a very brave thing. As has been claimed by the moderators of Freethought Mecca, Islam has not been examined and debunked the same way other triumphalist religions have been, such as Christianity. There are some things that I strongly disagree with you. Can you answer maybe some of these questions?

1. What is your take on terrorism? The man who has been charged with hunting Bin Laden for the last 10 years, CIA analyst Michael Scheuer (who wrote Imperial Hubris), wrote that Muslims do not hate America for our behavior or beliefs but for our foreign policy. You might disagree with this.

I answered your first question in this article: Michael Scheuer is certainly very wrong.

2. What is your take on the political movement represented by Al-Qaida? While many Western scholars call it a nihilistic movement with no pertinent goals, Scheuer believes that it does have pertinent goals: the destruction of Israel , the ousting of American-backed tyrannies (see Saudi Arabia ).

I believe the above article will also answer your second question. Again Scheuer is wrong.

3. What is your take on our foreign policy? We haven't been quite innocent. You know that Iran could have been a true democracy had the CIA not installed the Shah. We support some of the most brutal regimes such as Saudi Arabia that are unstable, creul to minorities, export terrorism to us, etc.

American foreign policies have been wrong towards Iran , America is reaping what she sowed 51 years ago. But at that time America was manipulated by Britain, which the Iranians call the Old Fox. Despite the fact that Britain never colonized Iran officially, the Iranians have never had an enemy more formidable than Britain. And it is not out of malice. It is in their blood. I had discussions with Brits in the forum of this site who are completely in agreement with me but support their government's stealing the wealth of the Iranians and fornicating with the Mullahs of Iran. When the Europeans smell money they just can't help it. They forget they are humans. They become like a pack of wolves vying with each other to devour the carcass of their poor victim.

American foreign policies change with each new president. Some of those policies have been wrong. Those mistakes can be attributed to ignorance, paranoia and faulty intelligence but rarely to sheer malice. I can't say the same about the Europeans.

As for Bush's foreign policies, I support them. He seems to understand that the only way America can be in peace is when other countries are democratic. Bush's support of Saudi and Pakistani regimes is dictated by pragmatism. The question is which one is the less evil, the people or their governments. In these two countries the governments are less evil than the people. Yes you heard it first here. The only place that does not mince the words and say things as they are. In Saudi Arabia and in Pakistan the regimes are far more preferable to the brainwashed ignorant masses. If in those countries the power fall into the hands of the people it would be disastrous. 25 years ago this was the case in Iran. Shah was a despot but he was far better than the masses of ignorant people. At that time, America should have supported him. Alas in those days America was governed by an inept president. Carter was not cut for the presidency. Much of the problems we face today is because of this man's inability and lack of wisdom.

So it is wise to support the regimes in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and deny the Islamic government in Algeria even though they won the election. Remember; democracy is not just coming to power with a populist vote. You must also respect the rights of the minority. Hitler came to power with a populist vote but his party was not democratic.

To bring democracy in Saudi Arabia and in Pakistan, we have to work with the present dictators and push for change. The change must happen in the minds of the people before it can translate into government.

After 25 years Iranians have changed. Now they are no more the religious zombies that they were 25 years ago. Now they want genuine democracy and their government is the real evil. So in Iran the situation is reverse. There you should not cooperate with the government but try to undermine it and topple it. So Bush's policies vis-à-vis Iran is correct. His policies vis-à-vis Afghanistan and Iraq are also correct. He needs to be supported and not criticized.

But those who collaborated with Saddam or collaborate with the Mullahs of Iran, stating that Bush does the same in SA and Pakistan are hypocrites. There is no comparison between these two cases.

Are We Losing the War on Terror?