Bin Laden Unmasked? Robert Fisk [ducks] reviews a '215 page treasure trove' written by an Al Jazeera journalist and published in Beirut. It contains a 'wealth of information' about the elusive billionaire and his followers. He communicates over the Internet - no surprise there - but the book gives some clues as to the site used: al-Nidaa, 'The Calling'. Can you find it? The words of Mullah Omar are apparently distributed on site called the 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan', wild goose chase? You decide.
posted by grahamwell on Oct 23, 2002 - 5 comments

All Qaeda's Fantasy Ideology Why did Bin Laden's homies do what they did on September 11? Why did Lindh (as per the Steve Earle thread below) do what he did? Here is a cogent answer.
posted by kozad on Aug 21, 2002 - 19 comments

An excellent piece of media analysis by Michael Wolff in New York Magazine looking at the current summer-movie-plot version of Al Qaeda being artfully constructed by the NY Times ...
Then, perhaps most disconcertingly, the overall narrative itself is patently a dumbed-down rehash. It's Cold War stuff. There is the ubiquitous and yet unknown and unknowable enemy. There's the international jihad, which, with only minor adjustments, replaces the international communist conspiracy. There's the sudden purported hegemony of the Muslim world -- a new Soviet-bloc-style ideological monolith. There is the otherworldly dedication of operatives bent on overthrowing the West. There are the cells. There is the myth of superhuman discipline. There is now, even, the developing Kremlinology of the next tier of men who replace Osama. And at the center of the story, of course, is the bomb. Whether in massive retaliatory form or as a dirty-bomb package, it serves the same effect.
(link cribbed from Altercation)
posted by mantid on Jul 1, 2002 - 8 comments

It would be all too anticlimactic to have gotten him yet. Now it appears (or is being reported) that OBL was "spirited" away into Iran during a lull in battle when al-Qaeda forces strategically offered to surrender. The bombing momentarily ceases. Wily bin Laden gets away.
posted by crasspastor on Dec 16, 2001 - 13 comments

This didn`t seem too important to many but the last pieces of evidence associating Bin Laden and company to the WTC attacks was released, and is detailed by the Sunday Times. It`s surprising that many people were ready to go to war without this info...
posted by holycola on Oct 7, 2001 - 21 comments

Is it bin Laden or? I was watching CNN and they had a little bit on this other terrorist and how the intelligence community is more scared of him than Osama bin Laden. The last picture of him was from 20 years ago. He's responsible for a number of attacks, and is attributed as being responsible for killing more Americians. Anyone catch this guy's name? Got any info on him?
posted by ericdano on Sep 14, 2001 - 8 comments

Cancer, and Carcinogens "This event is not an isolated instance of violence. This is not an 'act of war.' It is one symptom of a cancer that threatens to metastasize."
posted by fold_and_mutilate on Sep 13, 2001 - 2 comments

The problem with retaliation. "Don't get me wrong. If Bin Laden is indeed behind this, then he should be either killed or put on trial....still, how we go about bringing Bin Laden to justice (assuming, again, that this is his work) will massively influence how safe Americans are in the decades to come." The sanest analysis I've seen so far.
posted by lbergstr on Sep 12, 2001 - 49 comments

Osama Bin-Laden confederate due to be sentenced tomorrow. Saudi citizen Mohammed al'Owhali, convicted for arranging the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Africa, is due to be sentenced on September 12, 2001. From indications, that would be at the US Courthouse in Foley Square, which is about a mile from the World Trade Center. A possible reason for the timing?
posted by dhartung on Sep 11, 2001 - 17 comments