It's not the economy

While patroling one of the on-line news sites today, I came upon a poll which asks this question; "Is the goal of radical Muslim terrorists to cripple America's economy?" My snap answer, as would most people's judging by the poll results , would be yes. (Nearly 90% said so.) But after chewing on the question for a moment, I would (and did) respond with a definite no - because I don't believe that is their primary goal at all. In my mind, simplistic as it is, their primary goal is to kill as many non-Muslims (infidels, as we are called by their holy books) as they possibly can. According to my limited understanding, the killing of infidels - especially if martyrdom is involved, brings them great favor with Allah. (Let me take a moment here to declare my thankfulness - that I serve a God who does not delight in the cowardly acts of slaughter performed in the name of religion, but rather delights in the salvation of the lost!)
America is a prime target because we are known throughout the world as a Christian (infidel) people (although I do believe we have drifted far from that distinction!) As the most powerful infidels on the planet, it would only stand to reason that Allah would take greater pleasure with and bestow greater favor on those agents of our destruction. So while their higher ups ( the ones who don't blow themselves up) probably understand the economic impact of terrorism, I believe that the garden variety terrorist (the ones who do blow themselves up) sees only opportunities to insure that he will get his seven virgins......