That is just about the stupidest post I've seen around here, even for you.
Your factual assertion, your "wonder if's," and your "what if's" fly in the face of every established fact, as well as reason.
A HISTORY OF THREATS
dallasnews.com
Osama bin Laden couples secrecy about his life and location with warnings about his actions. Here are some of the warnings:
1988: He issues a religious decree, saying that attacks on Americans were legitimate to stop the United States from “occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places.”
1996: Mr. bin Laden, angered that U.S. troops have not left Saudi Arabia since the end of the Persian Gulf War, publicly issues a “declaration of war” against the United States.
November 1996: He praises the bombing of U.S. barracks in Saudi Arabia and promises that other attacks will follow. He also says his followers have attacked U.S. troops in Somalia.
February 1997: In a broadcast interview, he says that “if someone can kill an American soldier, it is better than wasting time on other matters.”
July 1998: Mr. bin Laden releases a statement warning of a “black day for Americans. … We do not differentiate between the military and civilians.” The bombing attacks on U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya occur two weeks later.
August 1998: According to published reports, he has directed his followers to assassinate President Clinton on at least two occasions.
January 1999: Time magazine quotes Mr. bin Laden as saying, “If the instigation for jihad holy war against the Jews and the Americans … is considered a crime, then let history be a witness that I am a criminal.”
October 2000: After the USS Cole is attacked in Yemen, a tape surfaces in the Middle East in which Mr. bin Laden promises it is only a preliminary to new strikes.
April 2001: Mr. bin Laden, in a statement, tells hard-line Islamic activists to prepare the next generation for holy war. “I appeal to you to teach Muslims that there is no honor except in jihad in the way of God,” he says.
May 2001: He vows retaliation after four of his alleged operatives are convicted in New York for their roles in the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa. Two of the bombers were scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in New York. In making the threat, Mr. bin Laden declares a new level of holy war against the United States and Israel.
June 2001: In a videotape delivered to a Kuwaiti newspaper, Mr. bin Laden gloats as he takes credit for the USS Cole attack and says there will be new attacks on American targets that would dwarf those he has directed in the past. “With small capabilities, and with our faith, we can defeat the greatest military power of modern times. America is much weaker than it appears,” he says. |
