Mr. Friedman’s Diary Thomas Friedman has a new book out that compiles his columns from before and after 9/11. The book also includes what he calls a 9/11 diary in which he offers additional thoughts. One excerpt from the diary: "I have a confession to make: Some of the most depressing conversations I had after September 11 happened on American college campuses, with American professors and students who just didn’t seem to get it. What they didn’t get was that bin Laden and his gang were not just motivated to change American policy in the Middle East. ... He [bin Laden] was not looking for some new form of coexistence with us. He was looking to weaken, or destroy, our entire country. ... "They [the terrorists] detest the freedom, the pluralism, the religious tolerance, the secularism, the gender equality, the democracy, the faith, the free markets, and the multiethnicity with which we have built our society, and which we urge others to emulate. There really are people who hate us for who we are, not just for what we do, because who we are is the refutation of all that they believe in." --- Courtesy of Gietner Simmons, regionsofthemind blog:http://regionsofmind.blogspot.com/) --Orson
