I had never heard of him before 9-11. I remembered that I had read in our local paper the day before that the evil blind sheik was supposed to go on trial that week...maybe even on the 11th.
Bin Laden publicly declared war on the US in 1997 in an interview with an American journalist , but I only read about it shortly before 9/11. I recall thinking at the time that although he seemed consumed with the idea, what could he really ever do to us?