MUST READ "GOLDEN OLDIE": GOLDBERG'S JUNE 25, 2000 NYTIMES MAGAZINE ARTICLE ON PAKISTAN'S MADRASSAS

IT WAS ALL THERE FOR ALL TO SEE. JUNE 25, 2000 - 5 MONTHS BEFORE THE ATTACK ON THE USS COLE; 15 MONTHS BEFORE 9/11.

HE CALLED THEM "JIHAD MACHINES."

AND BY JIHAD HE MEANT WAR AGAINST THE WEST. GLOBAL WAR.

IT WAS THERE FOR ALL TO SEE... FIFTEEN MONTHS BEFORE 9/11.

I REMEMBER READING IT THEN. I REALIZED IT WAS VERY SERIOUS STUFF - THE BEGINNINGS OF THE NEXT WORLD WAR.

I REMEMBER BECAUSE I HAS JUST MADE THE ACQUAINTANCE OF A BEAUTIFUL PAKISTANI WOMAN, AND THIS WAS AN ISSUE FOR US AT THE TIME.

SHE WAS A BRIGHT, BEAUTIFUL AND INDEPENDENT WOMAN.

AT THE PARTY WHERE WE MET, SHE WAS ACCOSTED BY A MUSLIM MAN WHO CALLED HER A WHORE FOR THE WAY SHE DRESSED AND BECAUSE SHE WAS TALKING TO NON-MUSLIMS. SHE GAVE IT BACK TO HIM IN SPADES.

MY DEEP SKEPTICISM ABOUT ISLAM'S COMPATIBILITY WITH MODERNISM WAS, NEEDLESS TO SAY, A BARRIER. I SENT HER THE ARTICLE TO TRY TO PROVE THAT THE MINOR THUGGERY SHE RAN INTO THAT NIGHT (AND OTHER NIGHTS ACCORDING TO HER) WERE PART OF A RESURGENT JIHADISM WHICH WAS WAS A GLOBAL PROBLEM.

SHE DIDN'T THINK SO.

ONE YEAR LATER - IN JULY - ON A DOUBLE-DATE WITH A DIFFERENT WOMAN, AT A CAFE IN SOHO, I WAS ASKED WHAT I FELT WAS "THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN THE WORLD TODAY?"

I SAID JIHADISM. I MENTIONED THINGS LIKE THE ACID-IN-THE-FACE OF NON-BURKA-WEARING WOMEN INCIDENTS, AND THE BUDDHAS OF BAMIYAN.

MY DINNER GUESTS THOUGHT I WAS A LITTLE NUTS.

BUT ONLY FOR A FEW MONTHS.

RTWT. THE GOLDBERG ARTICLE.

IT WAS ALL THERE.