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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| Bin Laden obsessed with Iraq |
| 2005-11-11 |
| Western society misunderstands Osama bin Laden because only "scraps and sound bites" have portrayed him in the past, says a US professor, who has compiled and edited the Al Qaeda leader's writings. Bruce Lawrence, a religion professor and authority on Islam and medieval religion at Duke University says that some of bin Laden's letters have been inaccessible, and previous English translations from Arabic have been flawed. But the picture that comes out of the comprehensive and annotated collection of bin Laden's writings, "Messages to the World: The statements of Osama bin Laden," shows the terrorist chieftain has considerable talent to challenge the beliefs of others, Lawrence said. "For bin Laden, it's all about religion, and it's geopolitics wrapped in religion," he said. Bin Laden's work "makes clear this guy is a sophisticated, cool customer. He's not just a crazed religious fanatic," Lawrence said. The Al-Qaeda leader's skillful twisting of the Koran has served his radical Islam, the scholar said, according to a report in 'The Herald Sun'. Bin Laden refers to the Palestine-Israel conflict often, usually in the context of a US-led attack on Muslims, he said. Another regular theme is what bin Laden calls atrocities committed by the Christian West against Iraq. "What's really fascinating when you read all these letters together is, it shows how obsessed bin Laden has been about Iraq," Lawrence said. However, bin Laden "completely ignored Saddam Hussein," mentioning him perhaps twice in letters, Lawrence said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #7 God bless such nerds and analysts, their committment to their studies makes our job of killing said lunatics that much easier when we understand them and their motives. |
| Posted by: Theart Craique7939 2005-11-11 12:29 |
| #6 Does the professor know if bin Laden has made any pronouncements like "I've never worked on anything harder in my life." |
| Posted by: eLarson 2005-11-11 11:01 |
| #5 He probably even tries communicating with Binny's ghost. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-11-11 10:57 |
| #4 "What's really fascinating when you read all these letters together is, it shows how obsessed bin Laden has been about Iraq," uh....what I found fascinating is how obsessed the good professor is with bin Laden. creepy. Probably got a little candlelit OBL shrine next to his bed. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-11-11 10:40 |
| #3 because only "scraps and sound bites" have portrayed him in the past Personally, Perfesser, I felt like I formed a pretty good understanding of OBL on 9/11. |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-11-11 10:31 |
| #2 ...and I'm fascinated by rap. |
| Posted by: John Fn Kerry 2005-11-11 10:02 |
| #1 "What's really fascinating when you read all these letters together is, it shows how obsessed bin Laden has been about Iraq," Lawrence said. However, bin Laden "completely ignored Saddam Hussein," mentioning him perhaps twice in letters, Lawrence said. That seems somewhat contradictory to me. |
| Posted by: Raj 2005-11-11 09:54 |