"Terrorism is a part of the dark side of globalization.

[Dan Knowles]

The full quote by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, from 8th May, 2001(as it appears in Nafeez Mossaddeq Ahmed's book 'War on Truth: 9/11, Disinformation and the Anatomy of Terrorism') reads:

"Terrorism is a part of the dark side of globalization. It is a part of doing business in the world, business we as Americans are no going to stop doing."

Below, I have reproduced a small section of Ahmed's book, ending with Powell's quote. (From Chapter 15. Summary of Findings, subsection: 'A Web of Terror', pages 368-9.)

A Web of Terror
Although the conventional discourse posits the Western fight against terrorism as a fundamental geopolitical and geostrategic framework defining the broad trajectory of Western foreign policy and international relations throughout the post-Cold War period, it is clear that this discourse is fatally incoherent. In fact, Western intelligence agencies have both maintained connections with and actively/tacitly supported al-Qaeda throughout the post-Cold war period, in the following diverse countries across the globe: Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Chechnya, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Philippines. These countries span several key regions: the Balkans, the Caucasus, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Asia-Pacific, all of which are strategically connected to the Eurasian continent -- the latter being at once a depository of vast economic resources and a lever of global pre-eminence.
Essentially the same pattern of intersecting relationships surfaces consistently: a domestic terror group is financially and militarily interpenetrated with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda; the domestic terror group is financially and militarily interpenetrated with state government, military and intelligence services; the state is heavily financially and militarily sponsored by Western governments who maintain extremely close interpenetrative financial, military and intelligence ties to these states. This interlocking web of connections between the West and al- Qaeda systematically repeats itself across the globe in the five key regions described above. In most cases, regional states constitute a focal point or nexus through which various forms of concrete western
assistance connect to al-Qaeda. These states and regions, therefore, effectively constitute central conduits for the covert western sponsorship of terrorism.
This situation has important implications for a number of misconceptions about the phenomenon of international terrorism, of which al-Qaeda is an archetypal example. Firstly, the widely held distinction between state-sponsored terrorism and international non-state terrorism, as represented in the form of al-Qaeda, is non-existent. Al-Qaeda is well and truly a state-sponsored terrorist network. Secondly, in this sense, al-Qaeda does constitute a particularly unique terrorist model, but not in the conventional sense of an international non-state network. Al-Qaeda is in fact, sponsored by a multiplicity of states strategically connected to the Eurasian continent, all of which are closely allied to the West, which we have good reason to believe is fully aware of this sponsorship, avid denials not withstanding. A closer inspection reveals that underlying this interlocking web of international state-sponsorship of al-Qaeda are the military intelligence services of the leading Western powers, particularly (but not exclusively) the United States and the United Kingdom. Thirdly, given this international web of Western--al-Qaeda connections, the supposed global conflict between us (the West), and them (the terrorists), turns out to be less of a reality and more of a convenient narrative, a facade, concealing a core system of reciprocal interests and policies binding the west to its solemn enemies. Fourthly, this means that al-Qaeda terrorism is itself a system, or more precisely, an integral function of the world system under Western hegemony in the post-Cold war era (authors own italics). In the words of former Secretary of State Colin Powell: "Terrorism is a part of the dark side of globalization. It is a part of doing business in the world, business we as Americans are no going to stop doing." Presumably then, terrorism is not going to go away at all, because "we" will continue doing "business".

Aplogies for any spelling/grammatical errors etc.

Kind regards,

Dan Knowles

[Jim]

This web extends into corporate culture e.g. Haliburton, Bechtel et al. and also loops back into government.

"The 'War on Terror' is a branded, commerical enterprise"
Max Keiser - Karmabanque Radio

http://karmabanqueradio.blogspot.com/2006/06/kbqradio-28-june-2006-goo d-times-with.html