"Banned" is not the same as "not liked". Where do you think all those people waving his portrait went.
Mitigating damages--great lawyer line! Remember how Saddam attacked Israel with Scuds? Where else in the world would two sides be at war, and one side by bombing a third party could be seen as undermining the resolve and cohesion of the opponent?
I think this is very insightful, and accurate.
OBL mentioned Israel, and the US connection to it as not being in America's best interest, in a 1998 interview with ABC's John Miller.
The most relevant and true portion:
John Miller: The American People by the large do not know the name Osama Bin Ladin, but they soon will. Do you have a message to the American people?
Osama Bin Ladin: I say that the American people gave leadership to a traitorous leadership. This became very clear and especially in Clinton’s government. The American government, we think, is an agent that represents the Israel inside America. If we look at sensitive departments in the present government like the defense department or the state department, or sensitive security departments like the CIA and others, we find that Jews have the first word in the American government, which is how they use America to carry out their plans in the world and especially the Muslim world. The presence of Americans in the Holy Land supports the Jews and gives them a safe back. The American government, in a time where there are millions of Americans living on the street and those living below the standard of living and below the poverty line, we find the American government turning toward helping Israel in occupying our land and building settlements in the Holy Land. The American government is throwing away the lives of Americans in Saudi Arabia for the interests of the Jews. The Jews are a people who Allah cited in his holy book the Koran as those who attacked prophets with lies and killings, and attacked Mary and accused her of a great sin. They are a people who killed Allah’s prophets—would they not kill, rape and steal from humans? They believe that all humans are created for their use, and found that the Americans are the best-created beings for that use. The American Government is driving America to destruction and those same ones have no doubts about America being a superpower in the next decade. So, we tell the American as a people, and we tell the mothers of soldiers, and American mothers in general, if they value their lives and those of their children, find a nationalistic government that will look after their interests and not the interest of the Jews. The continuation of the tyranny will bring the fighting to America, like Ramzi Yousef and others. This is my message to the American people to look for a serious government that looks out for their interest and does not attack others, their lands or their honor.