OT re Bin Laden's model:
From what I've read, his model is the U.S. military intervention in recent years, in Somalia and Lebanon. In both cases, the U.S. used force, to try and control local events, took a small number of casualties, and promptly abandoned the field. We demonstrated an unwillingness to die for our cause. He thinks his side can overcome all our advantages, because his people are willing to die for their cause. We have not proved him wrong, yet.
Further, he correctly sees our society as inherently vulnerable. For example: some bozo got into a family fight, got drunk, took his gun and shot a hole in the Alaska oil pipeline. This guy, with clearly sub-average intelligence and organizational skills, working alone, no planning, used a tool readily available to anyone. Just a spur-of-the-moment rage thing. He shut down the largest industrial facility in the state. This pipeline winds through hundreds of miles of empty land. It is indefensible, for all practical purposes. Bin Laden has an infinite number of such targets. |
