Re: the nature of Al Quaeda and the Taliban
<My brother pointed out that the Taliban and Al Quaeda were only partly like this. What was really going on was that these non arabs showed up wanting to help and the Taliban thought "oh good, cannon fodder". You can't just up and join these organizations, you must be an arab if you ever want to be anything other than meat for the grinder. The Muslim brother line is touted by these organizations, but they only use it for propaganda.
I get the distinct impression that the Palestinians occupy a similar "cannon fodder" niche as far as the rest of the Arabs are concerned.