The situations mentioned are real. Bin Laden didn't need to view an American movie to know about them. (Most Americans don't read books, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does. That is one way the Vietnamese 'knew' Americans well during that war. They studied us, including our literature.) As for not understanding that when most people internationally use the word 'state' they mean country, that's just ignorant.

I did not find anything ambiguous about the tape. Bin Laden's rationalization for attacking Americans is the U.S.' involvement in the Middle East. If he considers the U.S. or its allies as 'attacking' Arab or Muslims states (including what used to be Palestine, one assumes) he will feel justified in striking again.

The foolishness with people needing to play the tape backward or apply the Kabbalah to it, and other MEGO material, is inane.

If what you are saying is accurate, then only one conclusion can be reached: Republicans are stupid.

the real point here is that Americans, and the rest of the world as well, should behave without regard to the wishes, threats, proclamations, edicts, or hints of this murderous pond scum. Our only consideration should be capturing and killing them

The real point is that had Bush wanted to capture and kill terrorists, he should have gone after terrrorists, rather than implementing the neocon foreign policy.

The damage Bush has done will not end with his ouster, but it's a good start.

Looks like bin Laden is moving into politics; he's not dressed in camouflage and posing with a rifle anymore.

By casting his attacks as "defensive" acts, he's trying to isolate the U.S. from the rest of the world. He's trying to limit our choices to either 1) disengaging and allowing his movement to consolidate power throughout Asia and Africa, or 2) using our military might to try to suppress his movement, and thus cast ourselves as an imperialist-aggressor nation (and a not particularly effective one at that). Either way, we lose.

He already has significant support from the Arab "street", but his citing of Sweden as an example of "safe" foreign policy would appear to be an appeal to Europe. I doubt the Europeans will fall for it, as they have much more experience with terrorism than we do; however if bin Laden is successful in defining the war in his terms to the vast majority of Asia and Africa, Europe may lean toward neutrality. Also keep in mind that the part of the world where bin Laden's message is most likely to play well is the part of the world with the fastest growing population.

Also, if bin Laden can successfully turn his image from that of an outright criminal to that of a "dynamic" (read: violent) political figure, he stands a chance of finding state sponsorship again. Odds are he would try for Pakistan. A bigger worry would be that he succeeds in uniting Sunni and Shiites against us, in which case he could find support in Iran. He is likely in one of those countries (hopefully Pakistan), and both of those countries are currently or soon-to-be nuclear powers.

We really should have gotten bin Laden in Tora Bora; he may or may not be capable launching attacks on U.S. soil, but he looks increasingly less "marginalized".

It is critical that we not let bin Laden escape accountability for his actions. We cannot let the potential attractiveness of his political message drown out the clear criminality of his methods (something I'm not even sure we've prevented in our domestic political arena). I think we need to stop trying to tell the world what bin Laden wants, and get them to focus on how he has attempted to achieve it. The fact is that bin Laden may be "right" on some issues (the fact is, both conservative and liberal Americans can find something on which to agree with him), and we need to be prepared to concede those points whenever they are made by legitimate voices. This guy is intelligent and idealistic, but we cannot allow his means to justify his ends in eyes of the Islamic world.


BTW, fuck bin Laden.

This guy is intelligent and idealistic....

Exactly! But, Eric Olsen, with his new best friend the vicious Andy Marsh along as yes man, is denying that. They want to believe bin Laden is a stupid 'sand n-----r,' despite the clear evidence to the contrary. I can't help but wonder if bigotry against nonwhites and Muslims may have played a role in the Bush administration's failure to understand that bin Laden if masterful at what he does, as well.

Eric! When you gonna come over and have a beer buddy!!!

Diva you should sign up with Al Qaeda...you'd fit right in...you are a verbal terrorist after all.

and reading your post I'd say you already fit the criteria of idolizing their leader!

hmm, brings to mind the transformation of Patti Hearst