# Did You Know About Osama Bin Laden Before 9-11 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559 "2011-03-22T03:04:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/21 "2011-03-22T13:28:03Z")
No. But I was only 39 at the time and living in the US. I should probably watch the news every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/22 "2011-03-22T13:33:46Z")
There was some movie in the really early 90s (possibly that awful one about the IRA with Harrison Ford in it - _Patriot Games_?) where they are in some top secret CIA bunker with lots of made-up technology ("Zoom in on that satellite shot… enhance! Zoom… enhance!) and they call up a screen with six mugshots of “most wanted” international crims. I recall that Bin Laden was #5? ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/23 "2011-03-22T13:47:19Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Yes, thanks to [Bob the Angry Flower](http://www.angryflower.com/osamab.gif) in 1998. 🙂 That’s exactly where I learned about Bin Laden! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/24 "2011-03-22T15:38:45Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Yes, because of the first WTC attack. I don’t recall bin Laden’s name being publicly linked to the first WTC attacks for at least a couple of years. I want to say it was '95-96 when he started showing up in the greater public conscience. Am I misremembering? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/25 "2011-03-22T16:08:53Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > The SDMB had a discussion or two about him, pre-9/11. I just searched. I don’t see a single mention of Osama until about a week after 9/11/01. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/26 "2011-03-22T16:13:02Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/27 "2011-03-22T16:16:31Z")
Your google-fu is weak. [Jan. 4, 2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=22155) [Jun. 18, 2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=27732) [Oct. 10, 2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=41691) [Nov. 25, 2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=6479&page=2) [Mar. 29, 2001](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=65391) [Aug. 3, 2001](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=80392) et cetera… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/28 "2011-03-22T16:41:29Z")
Yes, I knew his name from as far back as 1993, when he was linked to the first WTC attack. And I knew be was behind the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. In fact, when we were talking about the attacks at work on 9/11 I said, “Bin Laden did it. You just watch. They’re going to start talking about him on the news.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/29 "2011-03-22T16:50:41Z")
I knew about him because of the first WTC attack. It was supposed to be moving day for me, from one lower-Manhattan apartment to another . . . but the bridges and tunnels were closed, so the movers couldn’t get to me. I remember cursing ObL. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/30 "2011-03-22T16:58:19Z")
Nope. Until recently I was only aware of him as the boogieman of world terror. Been reading some history and now I see the connection to Bin Laden. I can’t help but feel like it is just a name used to scare people these days though. It’s unfortunate that most of us can only focus on one or two individuals in a given story, so they have to become boogiemen. Human nature I guess. The truth is that there are a lot of people, and governments too, involved in the various terror plots but it’s always Bin Laden did this and Bin Laden did that. Makes him sound like a superhero. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/31 "2011-03-22T17:15:45Z")
Had definitely heard of him by the time of the attack on the Cole, if not before. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/32 "2011-03-22T17:20:22Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I knew about him because of the first WTC attack. It was supposed to be moving day for me, from one lower-Manhattan apartment to another . . . but the bridges and tunnels were closed, so the movers couldn’t get to me. I remember cursing ObL. Was he really that well known at the time of the first WTC attack? I though Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman was the name biggest in the news at the time. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/33 "2011-03-22T17:24:14Z")
I believe I’d heard about him in connection to the USS Cole. I think a lot of people at the time had heard of him but he didn’t yet have the notoriety he has had post 9/11. I recall an eye witness account of the 2nd plane hitting the WTC where someone exclaimed “I bet it was that Omar Bin Laden” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/34 "2011-03-22T17:37:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Your google-fu is weak. > > [Jan. 4, 2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=22155) > [Jun. 18, 2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=27732) > [Oct. 10, 2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=41691) > [Nov. 25, 2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=6479&page=2) > [Mar. 29, 2001](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=65391) > [Aug. 3, 2001](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=80392) > > et cetera… Strange. It’s not coming up when I use the board’s search functions. I thought it odd so I used a different keyword (“Opal”) and things from 1999 showed up. I’ll try different parameters. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/35 "2011-03-22T18:53:19Z")
Osammy been who now? Oh, that guy. I had seen a thing about him on one of the news magazine shows, I think 60 Minutes. So when the attack happened on September 11th, he was the first one I thought of. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/36 "2011-03-22T19:26:14Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Strange. It’s not coming up when I use the board’s search functions. I thought it odd so I used a different keyword (“Opal”) and things from 1999 showed up. > I’ll try different parameters. I used Google. The board’s search function leaves much to be desired. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/37 "2011-03-22T19:29:37Z")
No, but I was in 6th grade during 9/11 so it’s not that surprising. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/38 "2011-03-22T19:38:29Z")
Sure. I remember having already known of him at the time of the _Cole_ bombing in 2000, but I’m not sure when I first heard of him. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/39 "2011-03-22T19:55:21Z")
I think people who remember him from the first WTC bombing may be misremembering. That was the blind sheikh, not Bin Laden, and he certainly wasn’t in the news until years later. I don’t remember even hearing his name after Luxor, and that was 1997. He wasn’t added to the FBI’s most wanted list until 1999, in consequence of the embassy bombings. Maybe someone can dig up the earliest major media cite of Bin Laden, but I’m guessing it wasn’t until '97 or '98. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559/40 "2011-03-22T21:44:17Z")
I remember a watching a television interview that a Western journalist did with bin Laden sometime before 9/11, presumably post-Cole attack. Guessing that it was either a 60 Minutes piece or CNN that aired it. Naturally it got re-aired to death after 9/11… Anybody else remember the details better than me? ETA: Same piece as cuauhtemoc half-remembers as well, I’m guessing. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-about-osama-bin-laden-before-9-11/575559.md?page=3)