Osama Bin Laden.

**J'Pol** · 10-12-2003, 11:27 PM

Fine, you stick to what people ask you to do and blindly do it.

I will make my own decisions on how to analyse the material and respond to it.

As I have said many times, to each their own mate.

**Biggles** · 10-13-2003, 12:11 AM

In my view OBL is simply one head of a hydra called Wahabis discontent.

Even if he is caught, or is already dead, the beast will spring a new head in his place. Whilst he has gained a certain symbolic importance for those who think the movement represents their greivances he is far from irreplaceable. In fact such is the driven nature of the man it is unlikely he has ever seen himself anything other than a very replaceable foot soldier.

People like Saddam started life on the back streets with nothing and set about taking everything, OBL had it all and chose instead to fight Russians in the mountains of Afghanistan. Indeed, in some ways he still is as a lot of the people he trained ended up in Chechnya.

Without coming over all conspiracy theorist, I suspect AQ was always more than just a few dusty training camps in Afghanistan and that the real force behind it reaches a long way to the top of some very established orders. There is a long way to go yet before all the issues in the ME are resolved and the primary sources of discontent healed. Until then we are in for a long haul and there will be days when it looks like everything is going backwards.

So I guess the good Dr is right in that perhaps there is an over-emphasis on the importance of OBL and OBL may well have only played a bit part in 9/11. He was after all fighting a war in Afghanistan. However, I think it would be foolish to downplay the nature and goals of AQ. They are out there and they do have an agenda and the resources set up by OBL are part of that agenda.

**Billy_Dean** · 10-13-2003, 05:57 AM

[JPaul] RF

I believe he is pro Bin Laden, I have read a few things about this chap, some interviews and writings. Here's one :

How about a link, you are always quick to pull others up for not providing them. How do we know you haven't written this yourself?

And in reply to your assertion that he is pro-OBL, so what? He provides a different point of view, something certain members find personally offensive. Luckily, there are enough posters here who are willing to consider other opinions to make the forum interesting still.

Personally, I think this guy is on the same path as OBL, an ex-comrade, but a rival, intent on political power in a "new" Saudi Arabia, something OBL will never obtain.