Some say Osama bin Laden must be dead, because he has not been heard from and a megalomaniac like him always wants to be seen and heard. Others claim he escaped Tora Bora to fight another day and is just laying low. What do you link? Bin Laden, Dead or alive?

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rrmoderator
Some say Osama bin Laden must be dead, because he has not been heard from and a megalomaniac like him always wants to be seen and heard. Others claim he escaped Tora Bora to fight another day and is just laying low. What do you link? Bin Laden, Dead or alive?

well, most of these 'infamous' villains are usually alive, e.g . Saddam Hussein before they are caught. :idea: so i'd say he's still alive

I was betting he was alive even before he showed up on that latest Al Jazeera video.

If we wanted to do a smart propaganda campaign against OBL, I'd suggest stressing the following points:

1) The man advocates sacred suicide, but has made sure to stay alive. Obviously he doesnt practice what he preaches. If OBL believed his own propaganda, he'd be dead.

I know a man who retired from the US Marine Corps as a Lt. Colonel and went to Vietnam even though he didnt have to go--he said that since the young guys were taking the risks, the older guys with seniority like him should share those risks.


2) He lives in comfort, his clothes are always sparkling white (imagine, an OBL laundry commercial!), he has an entourage. His wives accompany him, so he's getting laid. After Tora Bora, one of the persons captured was OBLs personal chef. The poor guy was heartbroken at having been abandoned. He revealed that his boss was fond of two dainty culinary treats: wild quail and a speciality called chicken muglai, which is cooked in butter and spices--a rich main dish that requires skill in its preparation.

OBL has the pampered complexion of a Bollywood movie star. By contrast, Shahid Ahmed Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance who was killed by Al-Quaeda, spent two decades on the battlefield, his home had no special luxuries and in pictures, he looked thin and tired, with deep stress lines in his face.

3) OBL wrecks families. Al Quaeda recruiters persuades other people's boys to drop contact with home, abandon their families and careers without parental permission (essential to get if you're a warrior in genuine jihad), to die shabby deaths to further his own ambition. These youngsters have often, at some expense been sent abroad for higher education by families hoping for future assistance.

Their exploitation by terrorist recruiters is IMO no different from what happens when when pimps lie to young girls, then force them into sex slavery. Its all about loveless older people using the bodies and energy of young idealistic people to serve a destructive agenda, whether the goal is money or political/religious power in the form of terrorism.

By contrast, Shahid Massoud, when in one very dangerous battle made a point of picking only those fighters who were single or whose families had others to support them--when he had a choice, M didnt want to risk lives of people who were sole support of families.

Massoud relied on people. OBL uses people.

Someone should run a propaganda campaign and emphasize these points.

Damn sorry that this website gets so few comments. But I ALWAYS say, when the argument goes that way, that Osama's group IS a cult. He is the "charasmatic leader." He offers self esteem... exalted self esteem to his members.

The War Against Terrorism is mis named and is ill defined and mismanaged because our leaders and the people in charge of the war just dont get it. The war is a war against terrorists, and should be called that. People who were willing to take a little group of believers to their deaths in a crash into a building are GETTING SOMETHING! Not political clout, or infamy, they are getting a place in heaven next to the guru.

Since it has been a couple of years since anyones posted here, Id also like to report that the cult is just about washed up too... as far as the US is concerned. There are NO "sleeper cells." None in the US for sure. They blew themselves up pretty much... at least the core group. The ones who could walk the walk, and get service at the DMV. The last one... the "Shoe Bomber" couldn't get a job delivering pizzas, but Osama was willing to use him.

_

Osama's not dead- or at least they don't want him dead. He's a real money maker! I mean how are you going to keep going to congress, asking for $80 billion... and another $80 billion... and another, if your boogeyman is in the bag?

By now, he has [i:b76cd31478]brand name recognition[/i:b76cd31478], it takes alot of advertising dollars to build that. And it takes "hard work" to educate the american public (inbetween golf rounds). Better to just keep it simple, lest they forget. We can't pronounce any other middle eastern names anyway.

And this 'we don't know where he is' game is perfect [i:b76cd31478]product placement.[/i:b76cd31478] We just 'place' him in the next place we need to invade. Pretty soon he's going to show up eating noodles at a deli in North Korea. Evidence? "Because we say it's so!". Darn it, that trick doesn't work anymore. Back to the drawing board Rumsfield!

Cool! I was a day ahead of the Los Angeles Times. Seems they've been reading my posts. (just kidding)

I've been looking for this Osama Bin Boogeyman (and his Al Qaeda spooks) for sometime now. I looked under the bed, nope not there! I looked in the closet, not there either! I looked in my shoe, can't find him. I looked in my wallet... hey... hey.... hey you! Some little green man wearing a turban made off with my money! Guess I'm not the only one.

the article:
[www.commondreams.org]

to bad I missed the documentary

Bin Laden probably is dead. Chechynians Dudajev "lived" five years after his death to recruit islamists until they saw evidence as was suitable...

Considering the fact that Osama Bin Laden is from a weathly oil family and that the Bin Laden family are friends with the Bushes (due to the oil business), it's highly unlikely that the current administration will ever "capture" Bin Laden. I find it hard to believe that they don't know where he is. My belief is that OBL is alive and well somewhere in the Middle East, the U.S. Government knows where, but that nothing will ever be done about it.

It should be noted that not every American feels that OBL took the World Trade Center down on 9/11. The physics of the collapses are consistent with an explosive demolition, not a structural failure:
[www.archive.org]

If this is in fact the case, OBL may be, as a previous poster mentioned, an Emmanuel Goldstein-type figure who the oil-military-industrial complex is using to justify continious war while inducing a nationwide cultic fear of others outside the US. It should be noted that stirring up fear of an outside enemy is the primary modus operandi of many cults.

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f0rTyLeGz
The War Against Terrorism is mis named and is ill defined and mismanaged because our leaders and the people in charge of the war just dont get it. The war is a war against terrorists, and should be called that.

So how do you define between terrorist and freedom fighter? Are the US and UK armies terrorists or freedom fighters?

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f0rTyLeGz
There are NO "sleeper cells." None in the US for sure. They blew themselves up pretty much... at least the core group. The ones who could walk the walk, and get service at the DMV.

Possibly because al-Queda may not have done it? They never claimed responsibility - even though they have for everything else!

And what of the 6 hijackers who are alive and well?!