I have to agree with Tech weeni, but say GW is more of a madman than UBL is.

The score right now is.

UBL 3,000 dead
GW 100,000 Iraq
GW 30,000 Afgha

130,000
3,000
127,000 GW is more of a mass murder than UBL. Both are blinded by religion.

However back on the topic. This fake UBL says he attacked us over our policy in the region. Basically its you piss in our sandbox and we'll piss back in yours.

The Jesus freaks over in the US have a problem with that. They think the US is #1 and we have a back stage pass to go and tinker with any country we please. We can lie our way into somebody's soil, blow up their home and they should be thankful, for that. If they bomb us its terrorism, if we bomb them its liberty. This double speak is most of the reason behind terrorism.

Don't matter if Kerry or Bush is in office, continue the same policy of Amerika being the Worlds Police station, and you can expect to be attacked by the victims we create as we go.

Bye Thom! Gonna miss your tech posts!

Did I just get *PLONKED*?

Understanding OBL is key to eliminating terrorism. Truly understanding OBL will cause the thinker to understand some of his motivations and decisions. That’s not the same as supporting them, but if you truly come to understand where they’re coming from, then you’ll see some logic and justification. If all you see is demonism and irrational violent evil, then you’re a blind, ignorant Bush supporter who thinks we can just drop bombs on Muslims for a while and increase our security.

And if that’s where you’re at, then when someone points out some relevant aspect of OBL’s thinking, likely one that can actually be used to eliminate his organization, then instead of rubbing your chin and saying “interesting….,” you’re going to shout “WITCH…..HE’S A WITCH…..BURN HIM.”

Funny that some people confuse 'knowing your enemy' with some form of accommodation. Sounds more emotional than logical to me.

You learn about your enemy so you can defeat him. Further, the more we know about OBL, the better we can devise a strategy that defeats his (potentially thousands of) successors.

My personal opinion is that the invasion of Afghanistan was well-justified and that if we had done the job right and established a structure for self-rule, we would be miles ahead of where we are now -- in safety; in world support and in moral leadership.

Is it me, or did we hear almost this same exact theme (in different words) from some other source earlier last week? I was busy all weekend and stayed away (mostly) from here so I don't think I read/heard it here. Anyone else think they have heard this from someone other than OBL recently??

I'd agree that Afghanistan was a necessary engagement. I'd have preferred that we apply more resources there to get the job done right and done completely.

And I think Iraq and some other countries earned our attention as well, but I would not have put all my eggs in any of those baskets, like Dubya did.

Hey, I notice that our intelligence people, and Blair's, got it all wrong about Iraq. Either that, or we're not told what our leaders knew. And since 9/11 we've been unable to locate OBL. It looks like we're flying blind. Personally, I'm thinking that the efforts we should have been putting into intelligence....have not been put in. In my humble view, intelligence is a huge part of "where it's at" in the game of combating terrorism. But then, most of you already know I don't think this is a conventional "war" situation. In conventional war situations, the objective is to capture or control real estate, and seek a surrender from a central authority. This is different. Unless you're Dubya, in which case it's all really simple.

-----Root causes of terrorism-----

Damn i get tired of saying that.

Steve, you've heard it from any one of millions of sources. This concept is considered "knowledge" by most of the analysts of the world. By neocons of course, it's considered treachery to suggest it.

Anyone else think the main audience for this tape is intended to be his followers and the rest of the world?

First, OBL probably knows less than 5% of Americans will ever hear a sgnificant part of the tape. Second, I doubt he's stupid or uninformed enough to think the notion of Bush1 'appointing' his sons as governors will play outside of the third world...