This is interesting as I'd thought that the whole al Qaeda thing had died off in recent months. What with the inept 'attacks' we've had I think most IRA hardened Britons are starting to find the whole idea of hard-core al Qaeda terrorist cells everywhere a bit silly.

Maybe Bush is still pushing it in the States but, hopefully, we'll have less of it here.

And am I missing something with the whole 'Breakfast with bin Laden', 'Sorry, I forgot to be scared' thing? Will it make more sense in the next part?

Oh my, I wish Osama would finally come and kill me, so I would not have to stand this world with everyone bending over to this bushy bullshit any longer.

Thanks, clearly you are not part of the 'white house press office' that now seems to encompass most of the US networks, ITV and the BBC. Refreshing to see a journalist actually telling the truth instead of helping spin the party line. Whilst Britons are tiring of the endless 'be scared' drivel from politicians and the Murdoch 'press', over there in JesusLand clearly the critical faculties of the burger troughing population are even lower than those of our tabloid readers.

Of course the political land mine for Bush right now is the US forces data that shows there are more Saudi national 'insurgents' currently killing US troops in Iraq than any other group. That just can't get out or we have to admit that the George's Global War is not on terror, it is about US economic interests. You can't sustain an empire without exploiting client states and it is getting increasingly difficult for the CIA to 'arrange' elections now, just ask their branch RCTV which Chavez shut down after they took part in the US sponsored attempted military coup.

They won't remove him from power any more than the germans would, or could, have removed Hitler from power. The believe what they are told by CNN and everyone outside their own borders must be a terrorist. Beware, El Reg, as you may be branded as part of the Axis of Evil. I would imagine that Middle America probably visits Al Jazeera more than El Reg already though.

Surely it's just the 'Two Minutes Hate'? I hope you're shouting at him! Eurasia doubleplusungood.

. . .in my pants, and had to change them. MAN they're EVERYwhere

Thank You Mr President /tossing cookies

Since when did the Register become a political commentary site? I think The Register should stick to what it does best, reporting on *tech news* and thumbing their nose at it. There are far better political websites out there.

Oh come on Not Needed, if you paid *any* attention you should know about the technological relation of all the fear-mongering. Or read Maureen Webb if you don't.

the above anonymous is an imposter as true anonymous understands the joke.

PUHLEEZE !!! Not until they impeach Cheney first !!!

with all the "this is off topic" whining lately, he was quite likely serious. Otherwise we might as well have Apple fanbois masquerading as witless Wintel fanbois any minute now. Also, I am the only true anonymous.

To "Not Needed" re: "tech news?", get a life. Mr. Greene's columns have almost always been political. And believe it or not, there are people (a great many, I would guess) that actually LIKE his articles, and don't try to force El Reg into a "tech news only" niche. If you don't like it, why do you read it? Based on the article name, you could quite clearly tell that this article had nothing to do with technology.

On a side note, it's good to read another great article from Mr. Greene. I was afraid that once he crossed the pond, his commentary would cease.

As for the fear-mongering, this is absolutely correct. The only reason that "al Qaeda" and "terrorist" are ever mentioned is to cause fear, usually to encourage the citizens to give up freedoms they once had (illegal wiretapping), and sometimes to force other countries to bow to our will (PNR records). But this administration (and probably future administrations, as well) will never let go of the "terrorist" puppet because it will almost surely always cause the desired reaction.

The funny thing is, when you think about it, the terrorists have already won. Almost the entire U.S. lives in fear (or at the very least, they act like it), and so the goal of terrorism has been achieved, no more is needed.

I don't feel bad for the stupid Americans who let the government and media control them like sheep (obviously not all Americans, but the majority of them). Nor do I feel bad for the stupid Americans who were all gung-ho to join the military after Sep 11; they knew perfectly well what they were getting into. The people I *DO* feel bad for are 1) the innocent civilians in Iraq being murdered every day (whether it's intentional, or whether it's "collateral damage"); 2) people of Middle-Eastern descent who are distrusted and treated as criminals simply because the Sep 11 attackers were of Middle-Eastern descent; and 3) the people in the various segments of the U.S. National Guard (which, last I checked, was to guard the nation, within our borders).

Anonymous is Legion, Anonymous does not forgive, etc,etc, etc...

Can't believe I didn't bother with an "In Before - Not tech news" Tshh

I seem to have wandered into a meeting of Anonymous Anonymous.

Hi, my name's Osama...

Nay, it is I, the true anonymous! So, which button do I click to go anonymous?

Ozzie bin Ladin's created a new evil weather machine that is causing floods across England...

Take down the WTC, blow up a train? It's so easy even a cave man can do it. The Bush boys wants us to believe a bearded idiot in a cave did these things. Give me a break! Watch the symetrical fall of the three trade center buildings and tell me the cave man did that! How stupid do they think we are? I guess very stupid for no one in power is asking any questions. Is he so powerful that he can silence the truth?

"Oh come on Not Needed, if you paid *any* attention you should know about the technological relation of all the fear-mongering. Or read Maureen Webb if you don't."

Please explain it to me. This article is akin to a democratic talking point. How is it tech related? Thomas Greene was making it very clear he isn't a fan of President Bush (and being from Ireland, I don't see why he cares). It was bad article to post on a tech website.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html

Latest in a huge number of Unconstitutional Legislation...

Police State anyone?

Has anyone bothered to read the 911 commission report? These idiots can't spell Osama Bin Laden's name right, they spell it Usama. And these people are in charge of our protection from the great Caveman. Bush should of had his head on a platter by now! I think Usama is working in the basement of the White House as a janitor.

The problem is the upper echelon.

The president is rich and the congress is rich and the party bosses are rich and in the US oligarchy the government only represents them.

There are many of those with big money making bigger money off of the war or whose activities are not news because of the war.

Maybe thats just the way it is, but does it have to be that way?

Anonymous is really a tool of Al Qaeda used to weaken the fine foundations of teh interwebs.

Also El'Reg has a big red banner indicating it is a tabloid rag, not a high brow tech broadsheet, and we love it as such.

Yur Doin it wrong

...and fear shall lead us down this path... (or the perception of it)

Ban photography of buildings etc? but.. but... ("Its because of the WOT") oh ok...

Erode our freedoms? but.. but... ("Its because of the WOT") oh ok...

Each little piece they take is one more nail in the coffin for freedom and we just accept it - when did we take our eye off the ball and let the governments do as they wish?

To use the old frog in a pan adage, we are slowly being boiled alive without realizing it.

...the other anonymous then, not me.

Not Needed, if you failed to notice the implementation of world-wide high-tech surveillance in the wake of the BE VERY AFRAID tactics of certain leaders, you're either beyond help or sound asleep.

Rick, you watch too many conspiracy movies ;) - but let me know if you find the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, its gone missing for some reason.

Actually, if you were a trainee terrorist following recent news, you'd learn that an excellent method to cause massive disruption in the UK might be to disrupt an unprotected electricity "switching centre" like the one which nearly got its underfloor control/data cabling flooded yesterday. In the case of the Walham centre, not only is it (allegedly) the sole source of supply of electricity to hundreds of thousands of people, the organisations it supplies also include the spookstation GCHQ Cheltenham and a nuclear installation which C4 news said they weren't allowed to name (the former CEGB/BNFL Barnwood is perhaps in vaguely the right place but isn't it just offices???).

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/environment/saving+walham/624157

ifyoudontlikethistypeofarticledontreadit </rant> ahhhh, and relax. Seriously though, everyone keeps looking at america and going "oh they are terrible, they elect bush again and then he takes away all their freedoms". Do you think Blair/Brown (I've stopped being able to tell the difference) have any other ideas?

We may not be losing as many freedoms by law, but those same freedoms are now 'monitored' and thats no different at all. Also the government want to monitor more and more every week.

Mid year resolutions.

-Next census I'm going to put in the most random data I can think of.

-Lie blatantly to any government agency, telemarketer, survey or anyone who asks me for information about myself.

-Change all of my streets numberplates to the same number.

-constantly wear a balaclava

etc.(you get the idea) if the databases are filled with invalid data, then they become disinformation tools and useless.

If this is true then the war on terror is actually winning - and excuse me if I'm not gob-smacked at that inconceivable notion.

Because prior to 9/11 Al Qaeda were just about a crap an outfit as you could hope for, they were being pulled apart by political/leadership in-fighting, and their recruitment was at an all time low. 9/11 itself was a last-gasp effort to gain some kind of recognition throughout the Middle East. But they went too far, even for some of the more extreme regimes - and if it had been left at that, 9/11 would have been the biggest mistake ever conceived.

The biggest mistake ever conceived prior to the Bush Administration's War on Terror that is. What the Bush administration managed to achieve through incompetence and belligerence was turn Al Qaeda's fortunes around and save them from their final death throws.

So if we're back to pre-9/11 numbers we have a lot to be grateful for, and certainly a lot less to fear from these whackos.

Of course not. Who in their right mind would give him a blow job?

You're in Dublin ... would you write from London or Glasgow next time and see how safe we are?

Its not WOT, its GWOT, you are obviously spreading disinformation in an attempt to hinder the free nations and support the evil al Quaeda in Cornwall and all their affiliated branches around the globe (which is what the G in GWOT is for)

BTW, 4th post in mentioned Hitler. This thread is in violation of whatsisnames law.

Lets just say the airplanes brought down the twin towers. How do you explain the symetrical fall of #7 only 5 hours after the twin towers fell? All 91 tempered steel support beams were weakened and failed at exactly the same nano second? Listen I don't want to think the worst but there are some pretty big questions left unanswered. It takes weeks to prepare for such a demolition, the explosives had to be in place prior to 911 PERIOD!

I have no objection to articles on current affairs in el reg, particularly if they're as well-written as this one. I like the comments too. But I do object to smug nitwits referring to stupid americans - after all, who elected Blair?

but D:Reams song was soo catchy!! Its not our fault!

My Muslim perspective

"How did Osama & Co become so prevalent recently? Primarily because George W Bush has been running at the mouth, working the phrase "al Qaeda" into every third or fourth utterance, thus: "The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq are the ones who attacked us in America on September 11th, and that's why what happens in Iraq matters to the security here at home". So said Junior during a recent White House press conference during which he mentioned "al Qaeda" over 30 times."

If Osama bin Laden ever got a fair and open public trial, which I would doubt, he might just say in his defense that George W may just have spoken the truth here. A truth being so much easier to say than a lie. He might say that the USA is the one bombing innocent people in Iraq and were also responsible for the WTC.

He might well point out that the WTC crime scene was never adequately quarantined and searched forensically for evidence of the perpetrators (or is that perpetraitors). He may ask why was the evidence cut up, cleaned up and removed without proper investigation. He might suggest that the WTC was designed to take the full impact of a laden Boeing 707 travelling at 500mph. He might suggest that the much of the accelerant burnt outside the building. He might suggest that the black smoke from the building indicated that the flames never got hot enough to incinerate the building let alone make it collapse. He might refer to the evidence, recorded on video, of NY firefighters who discussed the similarity to planned demolitions. He might discuss the power outages in the building in the weeks prior to Sept 11th, purportedly to install new data cable (anybody ever heard of power outages to install fibre) which conveniently meant no security video. He might refer to various witnesses identifying the second plane as *not* a United Airlines aircraft but a grey aircraft without windows - this includes a Fox reporter. He might ask why no steel framed high rise had ever collapsed prior to this, of 3 WTC buildings collapsing.

Osama may well ask how it was possible for passengers to make mobile (cell) phone calls from flying aircraft. (Try it yourself, just for fun. You'll never get a connection over a couple of thousand feet and no serviceable connection under 2000) He might ask why the Pentagon site was "cleaned" of "aircraft" debris on the day, as opposed to following normal air crash investigation practices of forensically surveying the site for evidence. He might ask how is it possible for an aircraft to strike a building like the Pentagon leaving only a 14" hole (prior to the roof being pulled down), with no impact damage from wings and tailplane. He may very well ask how is it possible that there is NO video footage from of the incident, at this most security conscious US military site (there were 6 cameras on the roof of the wing impacted by the UFO). He might ask where is the video for the nearby carpark - all of it, not 6 frames.

Do you really think Osama could ever be found guilty in an open court? Frankly I think the US administration should be in court for perverting the course of justice, for subverting the investigation of a crime, for the war crimes of attacking and invading countries in no way associated with this Sept 11th event.

http://www.911scholars.org

Dick Cheney (emphasis on the Dick) is the one with his hand up the arse of the puppet they call Bush.

He's got the legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch of government in his hands. He's more powerful than any president has been.

And he shot someone in the face.

Someone should impeach Cheney rather than Bush, the fear doesn't originate from the texas hollow head...

Oh and when I say impeach, I really mean boil in oil.

This has all been known since 2003. What do you think two million of us were shouting about on 15 February of that year? The problem is, how do we convince the sun-reading, foxnews-watching proletariat?

Think you should all watch the Micheal Mann film "Fahrenhiet 911" answers all questions.

Why Bushies went to war.. wasn't about Terror it was all about money. Plain and simple. The CIA escorted the Bin Laden family out of the US post 911!! how mental is that?.

Roll on 2008, and we "might" get a little sense into the Whitehouse.. but then again we might not...

But the problem didn't start until he started hanging out with Bush, bad influence!

If you don't want the world to view Americans as "Smug Nitwits", then stop behaving like "Smug Nitwits".

As other people have pointed out -- the vast (voting) majority of this country are just as stupid and controlled.

While I like a "dumb American" jibe as much as the next Englishman, suggesting that the US public are stupid without mentioning our current government could be seen as Blair/Brown propaganda to distract us from our own totalitarian regime.

That's the spirit, Bob Jones! If I were you I wouldn't go outside. It's a dangerous world.

I wonder whether you're in Glasgow or London? Wherever you are, you're more likely to be hit by a car or worried to death by a civil servant than be blown up or set on fire by a terrorist. Especially if the terrorist is one of the new breed of Doctor Dooms.

London certainly feels pretty safe at the moment to me.

Yeah let's save the holier than thou attitude. We elected Blair with a bigger majority than our American cousins elected Bush.

Wrong way around, lol!

"after all, who elected Blair?"

Murdoch?

Yeah, we voted in Blair and on several fronts the guy was OK. He just failed in some key areas, Bush's poodle (he should have made the same response that Heath made to the yanks on Vietnam .. fuck off, where were you in Suez). Political "donations" or rather cash for honours, your honour. But, Tony, he's just this guy you know.

Things he isn't is stupid, he is also one of the best orators of a generation. He also has not got Cheney's hand up his arse.

There were damn good reasons to continue to vote NL in, domestic reasons, we have had the longest, most sustained period of growth recent history. Though debt inflation is a worry, its the way the capitalist system works. Can't really cry foul.

But you voted Bush in after he fucked up the National Economy, hes stripped the working Joe and given it to his rich chums, who are all doing very nice indeed. I can't see one thing this guy has done right. You tell me, what ? Hes universally hated with the lowest popularity stakes of any president since .. hell ever ?? He personally ripped up America's reputation and now your a torturing, renditions, international pariah. On a par with Saudi Arabia. You kidnap people from their homes and streets and give them to people to soften up using techniques that the rest of the world deplores, but to Cheney and Bush its a "no brainer".

Now I know your average American is actually a pretty friendly guy, I speak to a bunch of them every night. He doesn't seem to represent anyone, does he represent you Bert ?

As for Rick, keep wearing that tin foil hat mate. Period. I think there are brain cooling versions now available with a little fan. Tell me, lol, what do you think about global warming.

As for El Reg not doing politics, well, everything is politics baby, everything.

"etc.(you get the idea) if the databases are filled with invalid data, then they become disinformation tools and useless."

Do I sense a delusion that these databases are today filled with valid data and are utterly useful...? We live in "deaf leading the blind world" in which the incompetence found its warm and cozy home.

"etc.(you get the idea) if the databases are filled with invalid data, then they become disinformation tools and useless."

Do I sense a delusion that these databases are today filled with valid data and are utterly useful...? We live in "deaf leading the blind world" in which the incompetence found its warm and cozy home.

"Osama may well ask how it was possible for passengers to make mobile (cell) phone calls from flying aircraft. (Try it yourself, just for fun. You'll never get a connection over a couple of thousand feet and no serviceable connection under 2000)" - Patrick 'foil hat' Ernst

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

"Do you really think Osama could ever be found guilty in an open court?" - Patrick 'foil hat' Ernst

You assume he'd plead not-guilty. Assumptions make an ass out of you and some guy named umption.

I'll leave the rest of the black-helicopter work to others.

"The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq are the ones who attacked us in America on September 11th..."

And just who has caused the bombing (napalming, fuel-air-explosivizing, white-phosphorizing, machine gunning, torturing, etc, etc) the most innocent people in Iraq then?

Insert another few pages of stupid ranting here... now I'm done.

Al-Qaeda is not a hierarchical organisation with "top down" command like a "traditional" army. It is essentially a "bottom-up" organisation, and one with which any autonomous group or individual may claim affiliation if they act in accordance with published ideals. There is "no chain of command from top to bottom". Anytime a few people get together to do something "Al-Qaeda-ish", it is clamed as an Al-Qaeda action and they can call themselves an Al-Qaeda cell. But nobody outside the group knows about the action: it was *not* planned from on high and dictated down. If there is anybody at the "top", they are mere publicists, not organisers.

This is something completely alien to the traditionalists, and it is why they will never "get" AQ -- in either sense.

Still, when the cheap Arab oil does eventually run out, so will the influx of US dollars to the Middle East. Then, unable to afford to buy Weapons of Mass Destruction from the West, they will just have to go back to flinging dollops of camel pooh at one another.

Nail on the head, nuff said.

b****r this

I'M SPARTACUS

I think you are a bit blind-sighted by Blair. Sure he made a variety of positive economic achievements, but has left a real legacy which has gone against peoples rights to privacy / personal liberties and other social costs. If economic achievements is all that matters to you fine, but doesn't change the fact that the Blair government, although not in the league of the Republicans, still has followed a very totalitarian leadership style.

I thought everyone knew that Bin Laden had superior technology. From a cave in Afghanistan, Bin Laden's super high tech flying kerosene bombs were able to cause the explosive pulverisation of 3, steel framed skyscrapers. Such is the high tech wizardry of Bin Laden, that WTC7, HQ of the DoD, The Secret Service, the SEC, etc etc, wasn't even hit by a plane and yet it too slid into its own footprint at freefall speed, atop hotspots of 1000K still visible two weeks later (Google AVIRIS / WTC hotspots).

Not only that, Al Q was able to cause NORAD to be grounded for the entire duration of this high-tech attack. Most amazing of all, Bin Laden was able to cause every singlt CCTV camera installed in the Pentagon, stop working for the duration of the 'attack' on it. Amazingly, his power even extended to making the FBI confiscate all other film footage of the "attack". Perhaps most amazing of all is the way Bin Laden caused all but 5 frames of all this CCTV to be held back from the public domain by the FBI on the grounds of .. errr ... well, I don't know.

Faced with such awersome power, exhibited by a guy in a cave on the other side of ther world, I can't see any reason for doubting a single word coming out of the BUsh administration. Really.

The biggest failures of the Bush administration were these:

1.) Not being able to head off 9/11. We had clues. We had warnings. We could have done this. The Clinton/Gore administration thwarted the Y2K plots. Bush either failed miserably or sat back and let it happen ala FDR and Pearl Harbor.

2.) Not decapitating the al-Qaeda leadership at Tora Bora when we could have. Instead, we trusted a bunch of warlords who are experts at playing both ends against the middle and outsourced "gittin' the terr'ists" to them. The Umma is thicker than water. They followed their internal loyalties and said fsck all to our money and offers of aid in exchange for the hit.

The fact that we are still talking about Osama bin Laden is proof that Bush is a MISERABLE FAILURE.

The only people in this country who voted Blair in were the constituents of Sedgefield, as anyone with even a basic understanding of the UK electoral system would know. Other constituencies returned Labour MPs to parliament, they didn't vote for Blair.

Just spark a fatty and get on with your life, I'm bored to death with all this terrorist nonsense.

What we should do is unleash the IRA on al-Qaeda, and see how well al-Qaeda deal with that, F%c&ing amatuers.

Personally I'm a little disappointed that the government has missed the opportunity to blame the current flooding on al Qaeda.

In the good old days of John Reid or Mad Mullah Blinkett we would have had tanks (possibly amphibious ones) on the streets (or as I like to think of them - canals) of Gloucester by now.

Well it certainly wasn't the British.

I think the "official" (well, real, not government-type official) stats were that something like 12-13% of the people in the country registered to vote voted for labour. Even when you only take into account the people who actually bothered to vote, if I remember correctly it was only around 40% of the votes were for labour.

research is hard, m'kay?

By Jared Earle

"Osama may well ask how it was possible for passengers to make mobile (cell) phone calls from flying aircraft. (Try it yourself, just for fun. You'll never get a connection over a couple of thousand feet and no serviceable connection under 2000)" - Patrick 'foil hat' Ernst

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

PE

Sorry mate. Perhaps you'd better do your own research. The "phone calls" were not made made from Airfones and both the govt and media continued with the cell phone story until is was effectively pointed out that this was impossible. The following article makes it clear. Airfone cabling does not stretch to allow access to toilets. Calls have to be made in view. Would a hijacker allow this? Moreover, some flights eg regarding flight UA 93, "A reporter at the Moussaoui trial wrote:

In the back of the plane, 13 of the terrified passengers and crew members made 35 air phone calls and two cell phone calls to family members and airline dispatchers, a member of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force testified Tuesday."

35 Airfone calls without a hijacker noticing. Or perhaps they were really nice hijackers. Or they didn't exist.

http://pilotsfor911truth.org/amrarticle.html

Jared Earle

"Do you really think Osama could ever be found guilty in an open court?" - Patrick 'foil hat' Ernst

You assume he'd plead not-guilty. Assumptions make an ass out of you and some guy named umption.

PE

Yes I assume he'd plead not guilty. Even if he entered no plea, the onus is on the prosecution to mount a case to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, his guilt. My point is simple. If tried in an open court, what is the likelihood of him being found guilty. I rhetorically propose that it is very unlikely.

Jared Earle

I'll leave the rest of the black-helicopter work to others.

PE

Asinine. George W opined that he would hear nothing of "wild conspiracy theories". However, when evidence exists for an alternate view then we are not dealing with theories but testable ideas or pieces of evidence.

Violence is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Even if you're one of those evil terrorists, you don't *just* blow something up. You have to fight for a cause. So you give someone an ultimatum: Do X (where X benefits your cause) or I will blow something up. If they default, then you make good.

Bombings without associated demands are pretty pointless -- they tend to be wasteful of ammo and personnel, which are at a premium when you don't have the military budget of the USA.

I still suspect that the US government were given an ultimatum which, for whatever reason, they declined to reveal (and which now most probably will never be known), and to which the events of 11 Sept. 2001 were the response.

are becoming as tiresome as the articles he claims to be tired of.

Most of us understand that politicians tend to be overly dramatic when attempting to make a point (as does Thomas, obviously). Linking the original al-qaeda to ideologically linked groups is supported by many documents and other evidence collected from both foiled and successful terrorist attacks. The original and its evil spawn seek to sow death, destruction and terror in furtherance of the goal of bringing their particular brand of Sharia to rule the world. They admit it freely. Democracy and Western culture are their stated enemies.

I too sometimes tire of the reminders of terrorism but it is the fault of terrorists, not the people who bring their acts and ambitions to our attention. The recent attempts by medical doctors in the UK to commit mass murder argue against relaxing vigilance as Thomas presumably craves. These doctors were completely under the radar of law enforcement for years, and while they only succeeded in harming themselves (fortunately) they left a trail of evidence that spanned from England to Australia to Pakistan and to India. It boggles the mind that people who took a solemn oath to preserve life and health, people whom others have entrusted their lives to, would so easily attempt to commit mass murder. This is the al-qaeda way.

Thomas Greene is certainly free to cover his own ears to avoid hearing bad news but trying to convince others to do the same is irresponsible. Shooting the messenger does not negate the message.

In the last paragraph Thomas says:

"Now, propaganda can be true some times; information is propaganda chiefly because it serves a government's interests, not because it's necessarily false. Next time, we'll look at just how serious this al Qaeda threat is, and just how scared we should be."

Thomas should take some credit where credit is due. Governments are not the only purveyors of propaganda. Propaganda can easily serve the interests of those "journalists" who follow the Neville Chamberlain strategy.

As for the second part of Thomas' tirade, here's a preview: al-qaeda is not a threat and we have nothing to fear. Move along now.

Bless the El Reg, I wonder if they might find someone who suckles a bit more to the right to balance those who sadly only have a left eye.

"Bombings without associated demands are pretty pointless --"

I must strongly disagree. Bombings in market places make the unspoken point of "do not inhabit those places". Bombings of schools do the same. Government buildings. Power plants. Water plants.

Do you need a terrorist leaflet to tell you?

The demands of the terrorists are endless and ever-changing. The final goal is taleban-style rule over a world-wide ummah.

From an osama spew a few years ago:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/worldview/story/0,,845725,00.html

"(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.

(a) The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad..."

"It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex, or language.

Translation: convert to my version of Islam or die. Simple, direct.

These are the associated demands and have been for years.

"they tend to be wasteful of ammo and personnel, ..."

Again, I would disagree. One suicide bomber with the right amount of "ammo" in the right place can not be said to be"wasteful" in terrorist definitions. And the Madrid bombings seem to have had some effect on the Spanish government's policies a few years back.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=N0P&q=bin+laden%27s+demands&btnG=Search

So OBL's raison d'etre is to convert people to Islam? Funny, but when the CIA trained and equipped him to fight the Russians in Afghanistan, Islam didn't come into it. Try to imagine Ian Paisely causing 3 Australian skyscrapers to slide into their own basements at freefallspeed, by way of him trying to force Catholicism on the Aborigines. The truth is, if OBL really did have the organisation to neuter NORAD while his trainee pilots flew military acrobatics in US airspace, if OBL really did have the power to explosively pulverise 3 steel framed skyscrapers AND punch a hole through 3 rings of the pentagon with a passenger plane that had no engines, then OBL already has the power to bring the US to it's knees, and a similar attack on 3 mile island would have finished the job.

Meanwhile, from the same minds that bought you the Northwoods Project ...

The problem with a war on terrorism is that polititions like Bush, and Hitler just use the terorrists to push thier own selfish, greedy, violent, and deluded agenda. Bush needed a foe to start the WWIII that his handlers planned on making billions of dollars on, but all he had to work with was a small band of CIA created thugs with box cutters. Bush is guilty of the worse kind of treason because he has fought this war for Al-Qaeda up till now in order to push us into a WWIII that only rich war profiteers and Israel can really appriciate. Is Halliburton winning its war in Iraq?