Drug Users, Gays and Madonna Safe from Bin Laden

US policies in the Middle East rather than cultural issues are behind Ossama Bin Laden's war on the west, the Daily Telegraph suggested this week, in a lengthy article by Peter L Bergen, author of Inside the Secret World of Bin Laden.

"In all the tens of thousands of words that Bin Laden on the public record, there are some significant omissions," he pointed out.

"He does not rail (protest) against the pernicious effects of Hollywood movies, or against Madonna's midriff, or against the pornography protected by the American constitution. Nor does he inveigh against the drug and alcohol culture of the West, or it's tolerance for homosexuals."

According to Mr Bergen, the choice of targets hit on September 11 provided further evidence that "Bin Laden cares little about such cultural issues."

"They hijackers who came to America did not attack the headquarters of a major brewery or AOL/Time Warner or Coca Cola, nor did they attack Las Vegas or Manhattan's Greenwich Village or even the Supreme Court," he continued. "They attacked the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, pre-eminent symbols of the United States' military and economic might."

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