OBL's not brilliant, but follows history. Insurgent actions have always been relatively expensive for what you (as the large force) get. Just because they haven't successfully had the infidels leave Saudi doesn't mean they aren't working toward this goal. Ultimately, they would like the majority of political and economic clout to reside in the muslim nations. I don't think they really believe that all people would convert to Islam - if that happened, who would there be to kill?

This is an important point. Whether you think liberals hate America or not. With the world and national economic situation being what it is, if OBL plays his cards right, he might achieve this goal. Seriously. His ROI on the 9/11 thing has been massive. He has worldwide attention, and we're spending billions and billions of dollars, and thousands of lives. And our behavior is such that he can now promote his negative interpretation of America more effectively. So far, he's won not only the war, but each and every battle. This could not be working out better for OBL.

...and China seems more than willing (and able) to step in and take advantage of our weakened economic situation courtesy of OBL. I'm more scared, ultimately, of China than I am from Islamic terrorism.

Mike

Superman said:
"if OBL plays his cards right, he might achieve this goal" and "he's won not only the war, but each and every battle. This could not be working out better for OBL"

Well Sup, if you & your left wing buddies have anything to do with it he will achive his goal. He is intent on our deaths, & you want to send him to counseling. And yes it could have worked out much better. Afghanistan could still be under their control and all of his cronies that were either killed or captured could still be planning to kill us. Also, his money faucet is no longer running as it was before. As usual, wrong on all counts.

Dont forget that the Western Chinese provinces are yes - Muslim!

:(

As Chevy Chase used to say in "Fletch".... "Well, there you have it"

Mike

mule..

I have tried to find ANY posts really seriously advocating counselling. Where do you get this information?

Since I am not a liberal (as you define them) I am looking for an objective source for your claims. Even moderates take some umbrage to non substantiated statements. Is yours one of these?

OBL knows his foes much better then they know him. Surly 9/11 wasn’t calculated to by itself, “bring the West to its knees,” or get us out of Saudi Arabia, or change what they see as corrupt governments in Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others .

What 9/11 was calculated to do was polarize the world. OBL knew that the George Bush / Tony Blair administrations would retaliate for an atrocity (9/11) with another. I’m sure OBL expected an invasion of Afghanistan and hoped for lots of bloody horror to show up on Arab media to bolster hate for the west and thereby his recruiting efforts. The invasion of Iraq must been a gift beyond his wildest hopes. Bush / Blair reacted exactly as OBL wanted them to. It’s no accident that he didn’t do 9/11 when a pragmatist like Bill Clinton was President. They waited until they had fiery evangelical administrations in the US and GB that would give him maximum reaction.

The result of Western reactions like the invasion or Iraq is more anger, (what do you suppose it was that got those Pakistanis in Leeds so wound-up), and more atrocities on both sides. Cheney’s statements notwithstanding, Al Qaeda is stronger today than ever before.

I’m no apologist for Al Qaeda, but an administration that doesn’t get into these people’s heads and understand their motivations is doomed to be manipulated by and badly bloodied by them. Make no mistake – there will never be enough troops to fight the world wide insurgency that Al Qaeda are trying to us to.