Is Al Quaeda Just A bogeyman?

This story is one that arrived in my email. A taste:

Of course, the documentary does not doubt that an embittered, well-connected and wealthy Saudi man named Osama bin Laden helped finance various affinity groups of Islamist fanatics that have engaged in terror, including the 9/11 attacks. Nor does it challenge the notion that a terrifying version of fundamentalist Islam has led to gruesome spates of violence throughout the world. But the film, both more sober and more deeply provocative than Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," directly challenges the conventional wisdom by making a powerful case that the Bush administration, led by a tight-knit cabal of Machiavellian neoconservatives, has seized upon the false image of a unified international terrorist threat to replace the expired Soviet empire in order to push a political agenda.

I would personally change the last line to read..."to push American imperialism". This is precisely the reason people in other countries disdain the U. S. There is no doubt that America does much good in the world and is a generous nation at heart. Unfortunately the benevolent measures we have taken have been diminished in the rest of the worlds eyes by our Imperialism, our(corporate) greed and our support of dictators and monarchies that did not have the best interests of its people at heart. This is why we face a threat.
I contend that this threat is less than the one that comes from within. We have dozens, maybe hundreds of gangs..non- aligned by the way..in American that have continued to kill in this country. Not one "terrorist" among them. We have had 2 judges that have been killed or members of their family killed in recent weeks. Tim McVeigh killed men, women and children in OKC. Pedophiles kidnapping and killing children. Not a "terrorist" among them. Stopping the carnage seems to me to be a case of more police and tougher sentences for serious crimes. Not global wars. To make room for them we need decriminalizing or alternative sentencing of less serious crimes that relate to personal preferences or choice. We've lived with terrorism since this country started, mostly from within. I'm personally shocked that Americans have been goaded to fear. It's disgusting. What happened to the home of the brave?

Matthew Chapter 7
3
And why do you look at the splinter in your brother's eye, and not notice the beam which is in your own eye?
4
Or how say to your brother, `Allow me to take the splinter out of your eye,' while the beam is in your own eye?
5
Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to remove the splinter from your brother's eye.