I'm going to check this our too, but I heard different. I can't recall all the Arab names, but the going theory is that Al Qaida is an offshoot of the Egyptian Moslem Brothers. Ben Laden joined this group early on, met Zawahire, and transformed the Brothers into a military organization during the Afghan war. They really went ballistic after Sadam invaded Kuwait and the Saudis turned to us, rather than the mujahadin, for protection. Ben Laden was p.o.'d to have infidels in the holy land; he began his terrorism to bring down the Saudis. Technically, I don't think Ben Laden is Arab either. I think his father was from Kuwait. It's all murky as camel dung, but I wouldn't put too much on the Saudi implications.
You are focusing on Bin Laden's
background, plus al-Zawahiri's.
Mylroie focuses on all the rest
of them. All relatives of the
practical mastermind of al-Qaida,
Khalid Sheik Mohammad. All from
the same Clan in Iran that aided
Saddam through Iraqi Intelligence.
They include the hijackers, who
got made-up identities making them
appear to be Saudi, to drive a big
wedge between us & Saudi Arabia,
AND to hide this Clan & Iraq Intel
from view.
These are the trusted operators
of AQ.
Osama is their Imam. The Egyptian
is Osama's Right Hand. That's it.