The CEO of the institute that I currently work for, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Reasearch Institute (HWI) has been in the media twice in the past several months to discuss some of the work that we are involved in. Both times he has said something to the effect of:

"They made me say things that I didn't say."
"They made me seem like my opinion was the complete opposite of what it is."

Personally, I don't trust the media. This is one of the reasons why I have killed my television. If your really interested in why try reading Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander.

What does this have to do with the price of rice in china, you ask? Osama bin Laden is no different from the CEO that I have mentioned. His opinion is not in agreement with the media's opinion. His needs and desires are quite simple, but still despised. They are:

1. Get those stinking American soldiers out of my country.
2. Those countries who claim to be Islamic countries better act it.

I'm not going to tell you that Osama bin Laden isn't a bad man. I'll let you decide for yourself. What I am going to do is try and give you the other side of the story. I will admit that since I am a Muslim, and agree with Osama bin Laden's goals it will be slightly biased. On the other hand, unlike the media, I have nothing to gain if you believe me. So, why should I lie?

I don't have much to say about the first request, since I am not very much into politics. I do know one thing though, America needs to stop playing world police. The second request is the topic of this discussion.

Those countries who claim to be Islamic countries better act it.

Islam is described in it's node as a religion. It is really more than that. It is a complete way of life. I will use the word dean instead of religion. The dean of Islam touches on every topic in ones life that one needs to sustain his life, it is an instruction book from God if you will. Included in this dean is a system of government, punishment for crimes and many other laws that must be imposed an Islamic country. Islam has no problem with other countries, such as America, doing as they wish. As long as they don't have a law in their country that says kill Muslims, we are fine with them. When we come to your land, we will follow your laws and when you come to our land, you follow our laws. You don't like it, get out of our country. Here is probably a good place to note that it is required that a muslim move out of a country who's laws do not allow him to practice dean. So therefore Islam itself orders "if you can't follow their laws, get out of their country".

Saudi Arabia (and many others) claims to be an Islamic countrie. But when it comes time to get the punishment for a crime they look at how much money you make. If you are poor you get your hand cut off, if you are rich, nothing. This is not Islam, this is oppression. Many muslim scholars are locked up in Saudi Arabian jails because they spoke against the government. This is not Islam, this is oppression.

Osama bin Laden, at one point in his life decided to give up his status as one of the rich and powerful Saudi figures. He decided that it was time that someone stood up against these so called Islamic countries. With that, he has also declared that he is going to stand up against the governments that are helping protect these so called Islamic governments, hence America. If the American government would stop sticking it's very long nose into the Middle East's buisness, we wouldn't be having the problems that we are having.

In defense of America, they do have reason to fear:

First of all, the fighters that Osama bin Laden is involved with are very special people. If you look into Islamic history you will find that generally muslim mujahids aren't afraid of death. They actually welcome it. Because of this they have been able to overcome incredible odds. Armies from Afghanistan, which Osama bin Laden is involved in training, have won battles in which they were out numbered 10 to 1, and were the technological underdog. It would be very bad if a large army such as this were to be released against American troops. Right now, it isn't so bad, we could just nuke them. But if they were to become more powerful and obtain nuclear weapons, it could turn into quite a mess.

Second of all, should Osama gain reign over the Saudi government he will certainly raise the price of oil. America certainly doesn't want this. He who owns the oil owns the world. Right now America's puppets own the oil.

These are of course two or the many reasons why America has is troops in Saudi Arabia, and part of the reason why Osama bin Laden wants those stinking American troops out of his country.

I hope I haven't gone on too many tangents here. I have a habit of speaking/writing without following any true agenda. I'm sorry for that, it's my own fault.

From what I've heard from sources other than the media, he is a practicing muslim. If you have ever met a muslim, not just any muslim but a practicing muslim, you know that they aren't shady. They say what they mean and they mean what they say. They will admit to you that they aren't perfect, they make mistakes, but they will point out their mistakes and advise you to not do the same. They are pious, and always trying to make the other guy look good. Osama is very much that type of a person. He doesn't act like an important world figure. He gives all the credit to the people who have died fighting. He has given up his entire millionaire lifestyle to live in a trench, because of what he believes in. That takes a certain amount of spiritual peace that certainly I, and possibly you, will never achieve.

Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden, the seventeenth of fifty-two children of Muhammad bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi Arabian construction magnate, is a religious fundamentalist considered responsible for many acts of terrorism in the world. Born in 1958, bin Laden grew to be an intensely religious man after his interest was piqued by mosques in Mecca and Medina that his family was rebuilding.

The billionaire family's ties with Saudi royalty gave them free rein for construction contracts - building roads across the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden himself was well-educated, with a degree in Civil Engineering. He would have lived abroad peacefully, but the USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Bin Laden was a part of the 1980s Jihad (a holy war) against the USSR. With a strange twist of fate, it was the USA that funded this effort. Bin Laden did everything from recruiting troops to supplying weapons and vehicles. Despite inadvertent CIA help, bin Laden maintained a distance from the US. It was obvious he didn't like America any more than the Soviet Union.

In the mid-80s, bin Laden co-founded the Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK, "Services Office") to continue funding for recruitement and supplies to the Afghan resistance. He also took strong stances on the various Palestine issues. In 1988, bin Laden formed the Al-Qa'ida ("the base"), his main headquarters in Afghanistan. In 1989, the MAK split when the other co-founder died; the extremists threw their support in with bin Laden. He described the Al-Qa'ida as an organization to:

"... unite all Muslims and establish a government which follows the rule of the Caliphs."¹

In 1992, bin Laden found a reason to start his own personal war with the US. The US-led UN-sanctioned Marines aiding in a famine in Somalia were shot at by bin Laden's forces, using AK-47's (a cult favorite among terrorists) and rocket launchers. Bin Laden pointed out that the US was interfering in Muslim territory; indeed, there were some warring Muslims stopping relief to many Somalians. Bin Laden claimed that the relief effort wasn't the real mission of the Americans.

"The American imposes himself on everyone. Americans accuse our children in Palestine of being terrorists--those children, who have no weapons and have not even reached maturity. At the same time, Americans defend a country, the state of the Jews, that has a policy to destroy the future of these children.

"We are sure of our victory against the Americans and the Jews as promised by the Prophet: Judgment day shall not come until the Muslim fights the Jew, where the Jew will hide behind trees and stones, and the tree and the stone will speak and say, 'Muslim, behind me is a Jew. Come and kill him.'"²

On February 23, 1993, bin Laden did the unthinkable - he attacked America on its own turf. A truck rolled near the World Trade Center in New York and exploded - 6 people were killed; 1000+ were injured in the gas explosion. Although the FBI managed to name the man who planned the bombing as one Ramzi Yousef, they could not determine immediately who he was working for. After months of tedious search, Yousef's connections with a group funded by bin Laden became clear. Once again, bin Laden came in the spotlight, although he later denied any connections with Yousef. Yousef was captured in 1995 in a known bin Laden-controlled location.

In October 1993, bin Laden's men in Somalia shot down 2 US helicopters. 18 US soliders died. Again, bin Laden explained his actions as a counterattack against the US's foul intentions for the area. In December 1994, bin Laden's men used liquid explosives to kill one and injure ten in a Philippine Airlines bombing. By this time, bin Laden's extremist agenda and constant criticism of the Saudi government forced him to flee and live in nearby Sudan. However, by 1996, he would be residing in Afghanistan permanently, after being chased out of Sudan because of an assassination attempt against Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Five US military men were killed in Riyadh in 1995. In 1996, shortly before his relocation to Afghanistan, the Khobar Towers, a US military barracks in Saudi Arabia, was bombed - 19 personnel died; hundreds were injured. It was the strongest attack against the US in more than a decade.

"American history does not distinguish between civilians and military, not even women and children. They are the ones who used bombs against Nagasaki. Can these bombs distinguish between infants and military? America does not have a religion that will prevent it from destroying all people."³

On August 7, 1998, two United States embassies in Africa were bombed by bin Laden's men. One was in Nairobi, Kenya, where 224 people died with over 5000 injured; the other was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where 11 people died. Both bombings utilized truck bombs. Bin Laden's mode of operation was emerging - he used relatively low-tech bombing styles to obtain a highly effective message by targetting important facilities. Truck bombs are crude - and highly effective in open locations with dense population. Unlike his contemporaries, bin Laden did not invest too much time in "high tech" biological warfare or nuclear capability - he used the tried-and-true methods of guerilla warfare, adapted to the modern world.

In late August, President Clinton mandated a bombing of bin Laden's Afghanistan base, the Al-Qa'ida. While the base was thoroughly demolished, and there were casualties, bin Laden and his top henchmen escaped and went into seclusion in the country. Later that year, in December, 16 tourists (all Western) were taken hostage by tribesmen from Yemen. After a two hour fight, 4 people died and 2 were injured. Again, bin Laden was labelled as the instigator.

Osama bin Laden is believed to be one of the major suspects of the destruction of the World Trade Center and the damaging attack on the Pentagon in 2001. He, and the Taliban government of Afghanistan, deny his involvement. Bin Laden is particularly dangerous because of his religious fanaticism, his skewed views on peace efforts, his indifference to distinguishing citizens from military personnel, the charisma to attract youth for his cause, and the financial strength to plan and fund his operations. Note that bin Laden's first name is often written as "Usama" (as in his FBI profile) or "Ussama".

Note: For more information on the Al-Qa'ida, The Smoking Gun has uploaded 3 scans of the CIA's unclassified fact sheet of Osama bin Laden. They are available at: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/binladen1.shtml for anyone interested.

---

Specific Sources:
¹ The CIA's unclassified fact sheet for Osama bin Laden; available online at http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/binladen1.shtml
² John Miller's interview for Frontline; available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/miller.html
³ As above
General Sources:
"Greetings, America. My Name is Osama Bin Laden". http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/miller.html
"Profile of a Private Terrorist". http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/terror_binladin_990110.html
"FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive". http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/laden.htm
"Unclassified CIA Fact Sheet". http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/binladen1.shtml

Why Osama Bin Laden doesn't like the Unites States of America

It troubles me to hear our president saying things like, "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. . ."

"Americans are asking, why do they hate us? They hate what we see right here in this chamber -- a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other. "

(from the Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People - Sep. 20th, 2001)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html

Terrorists may or may not be freedom hating crazy people, but that's not why they (especially the al-Qaeda) hate the US. Rather, they have some fairly specific gripes about our foreign policy, especially concerning the middle east. Their motives are not mysterious; Osama bin Laden has been quite vocal about his complaints, which are mainly:

(1) Our establishment of permanent bases in Saudi Arabia (which he liked to Russia's occupation of Afghanistan), as well as other bases in the middle east.

(2) Our support of Israel's military occupation. He cites numerous incidents of humiliation, subjugation, and killing of Palestinians which are made possible by our diplomatic, economic, and military support.

(3) The joint US/British assault against the people of Iraq, which he blames not only for hundreds of thousands of deaths, but also strengthening Saddam Hussein's control of the area.

Despite the excellent posts above, I thought a distillation was in order. I'm not saying these complaints are legitimate, or that if they were legitimate they would justify terrorism, but they are something that as a nation we need to be aware of, and address.

Foreword to the Foreword: This was originally written about a month after the events of September 11, 2001. The information contained within is consistant with that available at that time, and was the best the I could pull up. If you have more accurate information, or corrections of any kind, /msg me. I just put this up because there is a serious lack of biographical information on E2.

Foreword:Compiling a biography of the world's most elusive man proved most taxing. Osama bin Laden (AKA Usamah bin Ladin AKA Ulsammah bin Mohammed bin Laden to name a couple aliases) was born into the Arab world in a time when record keeping was not of the importance it is now. It therefore is most difficult to collect accurate, specific information on his upbringing. For instance, there are no concrete documents giving the year of his birth, the origin of his mother, or the number of siblings he has. Many in the Western world are just now scrambling to account for Osama bin Laden's early life. At this time, and perhaps for all time, only a silhouette of his formative years may be derived. 

Osama's adulthood and early activities are not much better lit for the eye of the scholar. The growth of his fortune, his ties with the US in the early 1980s, and the formation of Al Qaeda are still shrouded in mystery. Found in the following document is a checked (or at least corroborated) narrative regarding the life of Osama bin Laden. The author has tried to divine the truth from many sources through cross-checking and analysis. All seriously questionable or unsubstantiated information was left out. This does not mean, however, the contents of this document are infallible.

Life of Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden is considered a savior by millions of disenchanted extremist Muslims in the Middle and Far East. He is also believed to be the most wicked man alive by billions of those who live in his crosshairs. Bin Laden's religious zeal, multi-million dollar fortune, and his warped genius make him an extremely dangerous man to any and all who he can reach. Considering his network of terrorist operatives in the Philippines, N. Korea, Russia, the European Union, Latin America and the United States, Osama bin Laden is an extremely dangerous man to almost all of Earth's 6.5 billion people.

Bin Laden claims to be the mastermind of terrorist strikes on targets held by Israel, the United States, and several moderate Islamic states. Unfortunately, due to the nature of his operations, it is hard to bring forward concrete prove of his guilt. He is, however, a prime suspect in the bombings of US embassies in Nairobi, the bombing of the USS Cole, and assassination plans of the Pope and President Clinton (cnn.com). He is linked with the terrorists who set up the Lockerby, Scotland plane explosion and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Most recently, and perhaps most unsettling, he has claimed responsibility for the hijacking of four commercial airliners which kamikaze bombed US landmarks on September 11, 2001. The two World Trade Center towers were completely demolished when a hijacked plane hit each of the 110 story towers. The Pentagon, godhead of the United States military, was severely damaged when another jet plane careened into it's side. The fourth plane, which crashed in Somerset, Pennsylvania, was apparently headed toward the White House. If the strikes on each of these targets were successful, (I.E. each target utterly destroyed) The United States would be without it's military guidance, financial infrastructure, and president. The man behind these attacks could have crippled the strongest nation of earth.

Understanding bin Laden's background is key to understanding his motivation. Although the Osama's history is at times sketchy, a general picture of his upbringing can be derived. The chronicle of Osama bin Laden's life begins with his father.

Mohammed Awad bin Laden came to Saudi Arabia from the south of Yemen in 1930. From his humble beginnings, (sources give an account of bin Laden's father as a porter) slowly he amassed great wealth as a contractor. The bin Laden construction company became, and is to this day, one of the largest and most prosperous contracting companies in the Arab world. The Bin Laden Construction Group is worth an estimated $5 billion US. (ABC News Int'l.)

The Bin Laden Construction Group, as it is now most often called, has its' share of foggy history; like most of the bin Laden family's activities. What is known, however, is that the company began its successful climb into the business world in the mid 1960s. Bin Laden renovated the palace of Saudi Arabia's then king Abdul Aziz. The king was apparently very pleased with bin Laden's work and granted the company exclusive entitlements to all Islam based construction work, in both Medina and Mecca. Being that the Arab world is an intensely fervent Islamic area, and the Medina and Mecca are two of the holiest cities in Islam, this grant funneled exceptional wealth into the bin Laden family and company ("Frontline": pbs.org).

King Saud, the ruler of Saudi Arabia in the 1960's, had bin Laden contracted to renovate all his palaces. With the extensive renovation of palaces and holy sites in Medina and Mecca, the bin Laden family gained access to, and eventually friendship with the Saudi royal family.

When King Saud left (in part due to Awad bin Laden's advice) during the Saud-Faisal power struggle, the country's treasury was left empty. In a show of wealth and friendliness to the new King Faisal, the bin Laden Company paid the Saudi government's employees for 6 months. This cemented the bin Laden family and corporation into the good favor of the Saudi government, and the bin Laden family drew even more prestigious. The bin Laden children went to the same schools as the royal family, as well as many other aristocrats in the Arab world. Connections of this type would later help the bin Laden's, especially Osama, to gain favors and tributes ("Frontline": pbs.org).

The wealth gained by the company in renovation contracts gave way to their expansion into the entire Arab world. The company spread out into Africa and most Islamic nations; forming the bin Laden "Group", as it is now known. One branch of the bin Laden group, operating in Egypt, employs 40,000 people (msnbc.com/news).

Osama bin Laden was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1958, the son of Mohammed Awad bin Laden and a Syrian mother. He is the 17^th son of a house of over fifty children ("Frontline": pbs.org). Osama, himself one of the many beneficiaries of his father's construction cartel, grew up in an extremely wealthy household. This household was also home to diligent observers of Islam. Osama's father was a man fervent in practicing his Islamic faith, and this was heavily impressed on all of his children. Awad bin Laden taught all his children to be confident and mature, and he took care to ensure equal treatment of his many children ("Frontline": pbs.org).

Awad bin Laden died in a plane crash in Texas, when Osama was just 13 years old. Osama's original inheritance from Awad's death was $80 million US, which he turned into an estimated $250 million US. He married at 17 years old, and has since attained 3 additional wives and fathered more than 10 children. Bin Laden graduated from the prestigious King Abdul Aziz University, with a degree in civil engineering.

Aside from the family business and his children, he found himself devoted to studying "Wahhabism" at King Abdul Aziz University ("Frontline": pbs.org). Wahhabism found its roots in the 1700s, with a Sunni man named Mohammad bin Abd al Wahhab. Wahhab believed that since the death of the Prophet Mohammed, all of Islam has been corrupted. Wahhabism rejects any religious scholarship of the past thousand years, and advocates a return to "true" Islam (www.lib.ecu.edu). The Wahhab sect dominates Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden's homeland.

In Western eyes, the Arab world is generally divided into 2 main categories: Moderates and extremists. The first category, the "moderates", account for the majority of the Middle East. These are countries that share non-violent relations with the United States and other world powers. Members of this group include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and most other OPEC countries in the region. Most moderate nations find dealing with the West a positive and tremendously lucrative experience.

The second category, the "extremists", are more vital to the origins of bin Laden's motives. Wahhabism is closely related to the extremist movement. The extremists are composed of those who have hostile relations with the West, or harbor groups that do. Extremist countries are numerous, and many have unstable regime governments. These nations include Syria, Yemen, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Jordan, Afghanistan, Palestine (though not considered a nation), and others.

Osama bin Laden belongs to this second classification of people. He and others in this class believe that the religion of Islam, the dominant religion in the Middle East, cannot be practiced precisely with a separation of church and state. According to their doctrine of Wahhabism, the state should hold true to Islamic law and the Muslims that live in that country are accountable to them.

Many extremist Muslims, as they are often referred to, feel the United States is corrupting and imperializing the Arab world. Through the United States' involvement in the oil industry, the funding of the anti-Islamic Israel, and American social groups in the Arab world, the US has influenced and shaped Islam. Extremists deem this as wrong. They want to "cleanse" the westernized moderate Islamic nations and purge all western involvement from the Arab world. This has been Osama bin Laden's creed and his call of action to others (fatwah: The Islamic World Front for the struggle against the Jews and the Crusaders).

Bin Laden, and his other associates in the Arab world, are currently embroiled in what Muslims call "Jihad". Jihad is an old Arabic term found in the Qu'ran, which means "Holy War". The Qu'ran advocates killing only in the protection of Islam and it's people. A jihad may be called to serve this purpose only. Since bin Laden, as well as many other extremist factions, believe the US is corrupting Islamic values and countries; they have called for a jihad.  Extremist Muslims are taking aim at the United States and their influenced counterparts in the Middle East. The goal of this jihad is to "cleanse" the Arab world of Western infidels, overthrow moderate states, and impose a "pure" and strict Islamic rule. Accordingly, all terrorist attacks staged by bin Laden have been aimed at the United States, or the US backed Israelis.

Osama bin Laden began his long career of waging jihad in 1979, when he went on a trip into Afghanistan with some Islamic militia members (Frontline: pbs.org). This trip happened to coincide with the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, which would continue for a decade. The invasion of Afghanistan, an extremely passionate Muslim nation, urged Osama into action. He returned to Saudi Arabia, and enlisted the help of his brothers. Together they donated money and supplies to the Afghan fighters. His support of the Afghanis in this manner continued for three years; each year he went personally to take supplies to the Afghani fighters.

Then in 1982, Osama himself began to personally fight against the Soviet Union's attempt at expansion. He went into combat areas and fought along side the Mujahedeen. As one story goes, he was using one of the bin Laden Company's tractors to dig a trench, and was subsequently shot at by Soviet fighters (cnn.com). He also went into unorganized fighting areas and helped coordinate strikes and movements. This gave him combat experience, extensive knowledge of the Afghan interior, and the admiration loyalty of Afghani nationalists. In 1995, Osama had this to say about the Soviet-Afghani war:

            "To counter these atheist Russians, the Saudis chose me as their representative in Afghanistan... I did not fight against the communist threat while forgetting the peril from the West."

"For us, the idea was not to get involved more than necessary in the fight against the Russians, which was the business of the Americans, but rather to show our solidarity with our Islamist brothers. I discovered that it was not enough to fight in Afghanistan, but that we had to fight on all fronts against communist or Western oppression. The urgent thing was communism, but the next target was America... This is an open war up to the end, until victory." (pbs.org)

Ironically, the Afghan also received aid from the United States. The extent of bin Laden's affiliation with the US is debated. Some report bin Laden and many upper level members of the Mujahedeen were trained in Ireland by the CIA, in conjunction with Great Britain's MI6 spy agency (news.independent.co.uk). Although speculative, the claim has some backing. The US, in its policy of Soviet containment, trained and funded many freedom fighters all over the world, including those Cuba and Iran. What is certain, however, is that in the final years of the Soviet-Afghani war, the CIA sent billions of US dollars