Reply to: Does Al Qaeda really exist...

[Clippy]

...or is it a bogeyman dreamt up by the powers that be to justify their actions?

In Iraq the battle was against "Insurgents", in Afghanistan the fight is against the Taliban. Where does Al Qaeda fit into all this?

BTW, how are we going transport all that oil out of Iraq?

I would (strongly) recommend you lookup and watch The Power of Nightmares.

[Paddy]

Al Qaeda has withered to not much and moved to Pakistan. Without a state sponsor they don't have the stability to do much. Even in their heyday they were loosely organised - calling a group "affiliated to Al-Qaeda" usually meant they shared the same views and one or two people in it might have met some Al Qaeda people occasionally.

Do a google search for "Blackwater behind bombing"

[DimPrawn]

I can tell you a funny story about him when he was my boss as head honcho at the foreign office, but it'll have to be in a pub with plenty of beer first.

Did it involve a pair of comedy fake breasts and an large aubergine?

[ThomasSoerensen]

They dont exist in the form that is presented by the media. But you know what I have come to think ? People dont care. I dont care that people die out there , or whatever happens that does not really impact me or my relatives. So do you. Sure there are some that care publicly but the bulk of the population is one big horde of sheep...

I now post crap on forums , I must be doing good progress in my programming endeavours .

have you tried to get on an airplane lately?

[threaded]

"The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the 'devil' only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US. "

Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook

I can tell you a funny story about him when he was my boss as head honcho at the foreign office, but it'll have to be in a pub with plenty of beer first.

[snaw]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Looming_Tower

Very good factual book, which traces the roots of Al Queda as an organisation, and the agencies who helped create them, then to fight them.

Yes it exists, for a while in a very real capacity, and now more as an umbrella organisation or to promote an ideology. And given room to breathe it could quite easily become a functioning terrorist group once again.

[EC4N]

"The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the 'devil' only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US. "

Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook

[FSM with Cheddar]

They exist as a concept, just like Anonymous.

When someone manages to pull off some terrorist activity, they say they are part of Al-Qaeda.

[Doggy Styles]

It's not an organisation, it's just something for any old islamic militant to call himself and feel important.

[thunderlizard]

Al Qaeda has withered to not much and moved to Pakistan. Without a state sponsor they don't have the stability to do much. Even in their heyday they were loosely organised - calling a group "affiliated to Al-Qaeda" usually meant they shared the same views and one or two people in it might have met some Al Qaeda people occasionally.

[juststarting]

They dont exist in the form that is presented by the media. But you know what I have come to think ? People dont care. I dont care that people die out there , or whatever happens that does not really impact me or my relatives. So do you. Sure there are some that care publicly but the bulk of the population is one big horde of sheep...

I now post crap on forums , I must be doing good progress in my programming endeavours .

[Moscow Mule]

I think it does, as a name for extremists to call themselves.

[NoddY]

The vast unlimited budget of the US military - and they still haven't found Osama Bin Laden. Mmmmm.

...And they've had nearly ten years.

I postulate
1. He doesn't exist (at least in the guise we've been led to expect)
or
2. He has, but it's more useful to have a bogeyman.

[wurzel]

According to David Icke, no. Quite a few less loonie people also hold that view - Peter Hitchens for example.

[pzz76077]

They must exist, an unnamed source mentioned them on CNN the other day.

PZZ