The USA is torn by doubts whether Saddam was involved in 9/11. There may never be black and white proof that Saddam and Bin Ladn cooperated with each other to perpetrate that crime ,
yet :
Bin Ladn declared war on the USA because of American troops stationed in Suadi Arabia , the holiest of places for muslims.
Why are the troops there ? They were invited there by the Saudis to protect them from Saddam. Without Saddam , there would be no troops in Arabia , and no out-of-control Bin Ladn .
Isn’t that a valid connection ? Bin Ladn and Saddam feed off each other. If it’s right for the USA to attack Bin Ladn’s “AL Qaida” ,then it is perfectly ok to remove Saddam ! If not , then the USA should tell the Saudis that they are pulling out;I don’t think that would be acceptable to them
Um, maybe it’s me, but it sounds like by your logic, OBL ought to have declared war on Iraq, not the U.S., if it’s ultimately Saddam’s fault that there are U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.
Lemme try it again…
Right, that’s what I thought. You’re saying that OBL is mad because there are U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and the reason the troops are there is because the Saudis invited them there to protect them from Saddam, so it’s Saddam’s fault there are U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, so OBL should have declared war on Iraq, not the U.S.
Um, I’m pretty sure the OP meant that Osama sees the Saudi monarchy as betrayers of Islam, and therefore just as much an enemy as America. As long as he doesn’t see Saddam as a serious betrayer as well, there’s no inherent problem with forming an alliance with him.
Which has little to do with establishing any evidence that they have actually done so, in any meaningful way.
I didn’t say Bin Ladn was using impeccable logic ! But he’s using US presence in Arabia to stir up anti-american sentiment to his own benefit. I’m sure Saddam is aware of this. If he loved America, he would do the decent thing and cease acting like a threat to the area ( ridiculous thought !)
I’m sure that eventually BL would try to elliminate Saddam so that he could reestablish the caliphate in Bagdad , with himself in control of al Islam , which is his ultimate goal . ( I hate religious people ; they are so full of bull-shit and hypocracy )
Bin Laden actually offered to take on Sadaam in Kuwait, as Hussein was thrteatening Saudi Arabia. But Arabia decided on the Americans to do the job.
I didn’t know that. But it makes sense that the Saudis turned him down ; they knew that he had larger ambitions ; he wants to replace the royal family . Its much better to have us ,infidel-pigs ,do all the dirty work instead .
Capacitor, do you have a cite for that?
Just what was OBL going to attack Hussein’s armored divisions with? Suicide bombers?
In the months proceding Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in June, 1990, the posturing of Saddam Hussein - who was still despised by the jihadists-salafists as an apostate - worried Osama sufficiently for him to offer the kingdom of his jihadist corps for the defence of the Saudi frontier. But when King Fahd, the Custodian of the Two Holy Places, called in the troops of an international coalition led by the United States, bin Laden joined Sheiks Auda and Hawali and their circle in adamently opposing the prsence of infidel armies on Arabian soil. Thereafter Osama was harassed by the regime until, with the assistance of family contacts, he contrived to escape in April, 1991. He first went to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and finally, at the end of the year, installed himself in Hassan al-Turabi’s Sudan.
From Jihad, The Trail of Political Islam by Gilles Kepel ( English Translation 2002, President and Fellows of Harvard College ).
Remember Sam*, this was immediately pre- al-Qaeda. What he was offering was his guerilla “regulars” from Afghanistan. What use would thay have been? Damn little, of course. Which is why King Fahd went with someone who could actually offer him real protection.
- Tamerlane
“…preceding…” and “…to offer the kingdom the services of his jihadist corps…”
Don’t want anyone to think the translation sucks that badly :).
- Tamerlane
good point ! and interesting too ! I learned a lot today .