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The motives of al-Qaeda have also been extensively analyzed by other parties, including politicians, academics, and media
commentators. In a 2001 speech, U.S. President George W. Bush explained the general motivations of the perpetrators as "They
hate ... a democratically elected government. ... They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech,
our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other."However, this view has been criticized by experts such
as Former CIA Bin Laden Unit Chief Michael Scheuer, who explain that "politicians really are at great fault for not squaring
with the American people. We're being attacked for what we do in the Islamic world, not for who we are or what we believe
in or how we live."
Many of the eventual findings of the 9/11 Commission with respect to motives have been supported by other experts. For
instance, Counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke, explains that foreign policy decisions including "confronting Moscow
in Afghanistan, inserting the U.S. military in the Persian Gulf," and "strengthening Israel as a base for a southern
flank against the Soviets" contributed to al-Qaeda's motives.Others, such as Jason Burke, focus on a more political aspect
to the motive, stating that "Bin Laden is an activist with a very clear sense of what he wants and how he hopes to achieve
it. Those means may be far outside the norms of political activity [[..]] but his agenda is a basically political one."
A variety of scholarship has also focused on bin Laden's overall strategy as a motive for the attacks. For instance, Peter
Bergen argues that the attacks were part of a plan to cause the United States to increase its military and cultural presence
in the Middle East, thereby forcing Muslims to confront the "evils" of a non-Muslim government and establish conservative
Islamic governments in the region.Michael Scott Doran further emphasizes the "mythic" use of the term "spectacular"
in bin Laden's response to the attacks, explaining that he was attempting to provoke a visceral reaction in the Middle East
and ensure that Muslim citizens would react as violently as possible to an increase in U.S. involvement in their region.
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