[MadIvan]

Robert Harris, the British author of "Fatherland" and "Enigma" nails it again. Just another British contribution to the war effort. ;)

Perhaps we ought to send this article to Osama and tell him - "we know what you are".

Regards, Ivan

But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour."

Today is Trinity Sunday. Centuries ago words were written to be a call and a spur to the faithful servants of Truth and Justice: "Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the Will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be." - Winston Churchill, 1940

This then, my lords and gentlemen, is the message which we send forth today to all states and nations, bound or free, to all the men in all the lands who care for freedom's cause. To our Allies and well-wishers in Europe, to our American friends and helpers drawing ever closer in their might across the ocean, this is the message-lift up your hearts, all will come right. Out of depths of sorrow and sacrifice will be born again the glory of mankind. - Winston Churchill, 1941


LET US GO FORWARD TOGETHER - CLICK ABOVE!

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[Utah Girl]

Excellent article, thanks for posting it! I knew that name Robert Harris sounded familiar, I've read his books.

[brat]

He certainly is! And instead of spending all that money feeding the Muslims he cares so much about, he uses every red cent to cause bloodshed!

[garbanzo]

And so they grow up, these socially awkward, intelligent misfits, looking for an outlet for their frustrations and, in 999,999 cases in a million, they somehow settle uneasily into ordinary life: the ill-tempered loner in the bedsit, the crank who writes green-inked letters to television celebrities, the theorist who reduces life to a single conspiracy theory (the Jews run the world, the blacks are undermining the white race, there are alien bodies in cold storage in New Mexico).

What's interesting is that this describes Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber as well. Both smart middle class kids who went terribly wrong.

[AmericanVictory]

Yes, exactly, and he brings to mind some other spoiled rich kids, Che Guevara and Carlos the "Jackal".

[Travis McGee]

He nailed it!

[RLK]

What is to be done with such people?

--------------

Many become liberal Democrats etc. trying to correct the world from the dissatisfaction that has befallen them.

[PRND21]

The bin Ladens sound like the Islamic Kennedys.

The photograph of bin Laden ...taken in Sweden in 1971.

Anyone have that picture?

[onyx]

The article persuades me. I think BinLaden currently sees himself as Allah, particularly after his successes on September 11, 2001.

[nopardons]

Have yu ever seen the T.V. adaptatio of " THE SECRET AGENT " , starring David Soucet ? It does the book proud.

A funny thing, I keep seeing Ossiponians here on FR. They propably won't ever do anything but " talk ", but they are the same sort.

yes, bin Laden IS rather like Ossipon. So were the members of " THE WEATHEMEN " ; back in the late 60's early '70's, here. The so called " peace protestor " / anti-globalist whatever , in Seattle and Italy are also VERY Ossiponian as well. Spoiled brats, who used to be called " remitance men", way back when.

Thanks for the post, Ivan; great read !

[Sabertooth]

I'll go along with this, except for the title...

"Forget Islam: bin Laden is no more than a spoilt rich kid"

I don't see the two as being necessarily mutually exclusive.

I'm also interested in a little exploration as to the kind of relationship a son with 52 siblings could possibly have with his father. We're all aware of the criminal and antisocial pathologies that arise from a bad father/son realtionship.

[xm177e2]

Adolf Hitler wasn't a Christian, and Osama isn't acting like a Muslim (if he thought he'd be going to heaven to meet up with 72 virgins, I don't think he'd be running from the US, hiding in a cave).

But the Germans who cheered on the Holocaust were Christians, just as the throngs of people in the streets celebrating the WTC attack are Muslims.

[mississippi red-neck]

phenomenon quite separate from Islam, or the Arab world in general. Set aside his religion and his race.

Perhaps what the author says about Osama's mental state is true. But to try to pin all of this on one man is dangerous and stupid. Their are 1.3 billion of the Islamic believers in the world and a larger number than we think read the Koran the same way he does.

I personally don't care if a person worships turnip greens, that's their right. But any belief system that spreads by the use of terror and force, celebrates the use of it's children for cannon fodder, teaches then to hate others to the point that they will commit suicide to kill non-members of that faith and treats their women like cattle, is evil personified and needs to be condemed.

Look around the world and see what they have done and are doing. Maybe people like him are a minority of that system, but a minority of 1.3 billion can be a hell of a lot of fanatics.

[Brian Allen]

Thanks Ivan.

[Gracey]

MadIvan, You seem to post the choice articles from across the Atlantic. Thanks for this enlightening article. I believe this gentleman had good psychological insight into our 21 Century monster OBL.

[Ratatoskr]

And so they grow up, these socially awkward, intelligent misfits, looking for an outlet for their frustrations and, in 999,999 cases in a million, they somehow settle uneasily into ordinary life: the ill-tempered loner in the bedsit, the crank who writes green-inked letters to television celebrities, the theorist who reduces life to a single conspiracy theory (the Jews run the world, the blacks are undermining the white race, there are alien bodies in cold storage in New Mexico).

Oh, I get it! But for a one in a million trick of fate, Osama bin Laden would've grown up to be an ordinary, true-blue American crank. We're just unlucky.

Nothing to do with Islam and the appalling history of the Middle East here, folks. Keep moving.

[biblewonk]

This writer is so right. Osama is just an insame person who does terrible things and then in hindsight tries to justify them. You can tell that his justification is almost an afterthought and it is so obviously contrived.

[fantasin]

Harris's Ossipon/Osama analogy is directly on the mark. It is interesting How Bin-Laden rails against a US Military presence in The land of Mecca, yet he does not dare attack the Saudi Royal Family whom invited them in.

Life in the middle east is a dead end miserable existance. There is no shortage angry and aimless young men. Osama recognized that with a godly inspired purpose, he could lead these fools to hell itself.

These men are not unlike the people who followed Jim Jones to Guyana. They trade there miserable existance on earth for a harem full of virgins in suicide bomber heaven.

Osama is nothing more than a leader of a cult cloaked in radical Islam. He will die in a bunker, because he does not believe in suicide bomber heaven. As a priveleged Saudi, he has already had his virgins on earth.

[ELS]

This is a very interesting article, thanks.

[OrioleFan]

The problem with Bin Laden, that his followers haven't figured out yet, is that he is too much a coward to even attempt to make the sacrifice he is telling his followers to do. He will never fall on his sword for Islam.