Ideology and terror

My specialism is in the history of political thought and so I am rarely dismissive of the importance of ideas and ideologies. Norm links to an excellent short piece by Raymond Ibrahim, editor and translator of the Al Qaeda Reader. It makes the point that the justificatory rhetoric of Islamist terrorism, which is directed outwards, is in sharp contrast to the predominantly theological discussions in Arabic addressed to its followers and that the latter need to be taken seriously in understanding the movement. It is worth reading in full here.