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.
I ran a google search on Laurie Mylroie and came up with this.
www.washingtonmonthly.com/ features/2003/0312.bergen.HTML
The author is Peter Bergen, who wrote a fairly comprehensive book on Bin Laden: Terror Incorporated. It's an attack piece.
Seems that the great divide on this issue is between those who think the Saudis should be blamed, and those who implicate Iraq. I guess Bergen is a liberal, but Mylroie served in Clinton's administration. This divergence might not correspond to conservative/liberal camps.
Another source I've followed is Robert Baer, who implicates Iran and Hezbollah as well as the usual suspects. This means terrorists cooperate across Shiite/Sunni lines. Baer says that these groups are ad-hoc, momentary co-operatives that dissolve as soon as they complete their attack. But he also repeats the importance of kinship ties.
Just wondered what you thought of these points.
Thanks.