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

Interview with Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, the two French authors of the increasingly infamous book "Bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth." That's the book in which former FBI deputy director John O'Neill claimed that U.S. oil interests were an obstacle to fighting terrorism.
posted by homunculus on Feb 8, 2002 - 4 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

Those Osama bin Laden proof tapes in full: latest translations
UBL: "And the fat runs out into a little tray, you say? And it grills on both sides?"
posted by skylar on Dec 14, 2001 - 3 comments

Has anyone else seen the cover of the current New Yorker. It's a great merging of recent threads.
posted by anathema on Dec 13, 2001 - 11 comments

Most lawmakers want bin Laden dead. Is that a good idea, or should he have a public trial if captured? Also, Pakistan dismisses the idea that bin Laden has crossed over and hiding there somewhere. Given the strong support he and the Taliban have in Pakistan, would they turn him over if he is there?
posted by Rastafari on Nov 16, 2001 - 20 comments

Bin Laden: Yes, I did it "In a previously undisclosed video which has been circulating for 14 days among his supporters, he confesses that "history should be a witness that we are terrorists. Yes, we kill their innocents". In the footage, shot in the Afghan mountains at the end of October, a smiling bin Laden goes on to say that the World Trade Centre's twin towers were a "legitimate target" and the pilots who hijacked the planes were "blessed by Allah". The killing of at least 4,537 people was justified, he claims, because they were "not civilians" but were working for the American system." (via lgf)

Evidence enough? Will this cause any in opposition to reconsider? (it's even from a British newspaper...)
posted by owillis on Nov 10, 2001 - 47 comments

From a piece in the NYTimes today, Home Front Is Minefield for President: "The lesson we're learning," one administration official said today, "is that you can bomb the wrong place in Afghanistan and not take much heat for it. But don't mess up at the post office."

Leave it to the White House to come away with exactly the wrong interpretation. But the facts are there, too -- most Americans are more concerned about the (relatively slight) risk of getting Anthrax than the rather significant risk that, if we screw up in Afghanistan, we might lose the current coalition against terrorism, Bin Laden, and any hope for "homeland security" for a long time to come....
posted by mattpfeff on Oct 25, 2001 - 12 comments

Bush Refused a Deal that would have turned over Bin Laden? Does he want a ribbon wrapped around him? Does he want a cherry on top of him? So the Taliban wants to drop him off at a country other than the U.S., is that a bad thing? I know he doesn't want to negotiate, but they're saying they'll hand him over .. aren't they?
posted by tsarfan on Oct 15, 2001 - 46 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

Taliban clerics meet to discuss bin Laden and then they kindly ask him to leave.
posted by bargle on Sep 20, 2001 - 22 comments

Osama bin Laden and those managing his multimillion-dollar fortune are sophisticated enough to have possibly profited in the markets from last week's attacks, U.S. experts said Monday.
posted by preguicoso on Sep 18, 2001 - 5 comments

$1 billion bounty on bin Laden "'Now it's time to wipe out the wasp nests of terrorism,' says Edward Lozzi, a West Coast PR agent lined up to handle the fund." It's a free-market justice crusade in the name of the Amurrican People!
posted by Sapphireblue on Sep 17, 2001 - 28 comments

Pakistan Envoy Meets Mulla Umer I think there is an increasing sense of interest building in the world about the proof that USA has against bin laden for the recent attacks. The US should atleast come out with some proof, if not for public, then for the states helping her out. Uptill now, Bin Laden has been touted only as a Prime Suspect. Is the US going to prosecute Bin Laden before being proven guilty. Remember that, Bin Laden has only been a Prime Suspect for any other terrorism blamed on him. The Muslim world is very important if any mission against terrorism has to be completed successfully. The Muslim world needs solid proof. I am not saying that Do-It-And-Blame-The-Muslims mentality is at work here. All I am saying is, US does not have solid footings to prosecute Bin Laden.
posted by adnanbwp on Sep 17, 2001 - 28 comments

Teacher beats up student for speaking out against Laden /bin/laden/ has followers everywhere, it seems. wonder when the world will accept the right to free speech. [link via TimepassTown]
posted by arnab on Sep 15, 2001 - 21 comments

This is a very good article which does us the service of specifically addressing why it would be "okay" to (basically) assassinate Bin Laden. And you thought we'd just carpet-bomb.
posted by j.edwards on Sep 15, 2001 - 11 comments

Can you go to "War" against an individual? Laws may limit exactly what the US can do, and whether or not an assasination attempt will be possible.
posted by mathowie on Sep 13, 2001 - 23 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

$5 million reward.
posted by dfowler on Sep 13, 2001 - 5 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

Taleban will extradite Bin Laden... If there is sufficient evidence for his guilt, according to the BBC.
posted by talos on Sep 12, 2001 - 19 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