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Ivan Eland, Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute, discusses the US contribution to violence and political instability in Somalia, how al Qaeda affiliate groups are primarily concerned with local issues and simply use the moniker for prominence and fundraising, nationalist movements that are mislabeled “Islamic” because mosques are often the only available forum for political dissent and how the US government characterizes Osama bin Laden as irrational in order to dismiss his stated grievances.

MP3 here. (23:08)

Ivan Eland is Senior Fellow at the The Independent Institute and a regular Antiwar.com columnist. He is the author of Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty, The Empire Has No Clothes: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed, Partitioning for Peace: An Exit Strategy for Iraq and Putting “Defense” Back into U.S. Defense Policy: Rethinking U.S. Security in the Post-Cold War World.

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