[Hegemony Cricket]

Interesting analysis.

One thing that occurred to me as I read your post: Several people on this thread and others have been very dismissive about EOM, Daleel, et al, saying in effect that these guys must be merely posers because "Atta never went online before 9/11 and bragged about what he was going to do."

That position has bothered me, but I couldn't pin down why until now. 9/11 was a watershed event for America, but it was also very much a watershed event for the radical islamists. While they had attacked successfully prior to that, nobody really noticed until 9/11. Since 9/11, the islamists believe two things - 1) they have our attention, and, 2) they have the ability to pull off large scale operations that will get our attention again.

Having our attention is a big deal to them. Prior to 9/11, how much widespread attention would have been paid to an EOM or a Daleel? They would have been ignored, or written off as just another internut.

Knowing they have the ability to pull off large scale operations (as evidenced by 9/11), does two things for the islamists - 1) gives them confidence, which comes across to us in their postings as swagger, and, 2) gives them a benchmark to "improve" on next time.

[oceanview]

they had alot going for them on 9/11, mostly 8 years of a do-nothing administration trying to stop them. their subsequent operation have not been anywhere as complex, mostly truck bombs on soft targets.

[GOPJ]

And just how do we undermine that confidence?

Knowing they have the ability to pull off large scale operations (as evidenced by 9/11), does two things for the islamists - 1) gives them confidence, which comes across to us in their postings as swagger, and, 2) gives them a benchmark to "improve" on next time.