Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. Osama Bin Laden must be elated, even if he is on the run. Al-Qaeda, his brainchild, was created with a rather simple goal in mind - to expel American forces from his former homeland, Saudi Arabia, stationed there since the end of the first Gulf War in 1991. In that quest, al-Qaeda gained notoriety by taking on the United States with the epic attacks on US soil, galvanizing radical and extremist elements in many parts...
