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The moderates were undermined, not allowed. Patriotism, Afghan history and nationalism was called atheism. It was undermined. The more you betrayed Afghanistan, the more you spoke of radicalism, the more you went away from Afghan history, the better you were treated. And that’s what we are paying for now.

This reminded me a former neo-Nazi in the UK who converted to Islam and was quite active on Usenet groups. David (Abdul Aziz ibn) Myatt was, unsurprisingly, a strong advocate of groups like the Taliban and talked of Osama bin Laden as a ’shaykh’. He was also, from what I remember, quite well-read (Heidegger was a favourte source of his).

It’s not hard to see how [Brigitte] Gabriel’s experiences might have shaped her views.

I don’t know who Brigitte Gabriel is. And to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t care. She appears to be just another ‘native’ informant on the jafi gravy train.

What I find interesting is the New York Times’ public editor acknowledging that her “experiences might have shaped her views”. This is not something that is typically explored in major news outlets when we discuss other ‘radicals’ or ‘extremists’ is it?

Last week, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned Britons travelling to the United Arab Emirates of a “high threat from terrorism”.