That Day in September -- Osama bin Laden biography

Friday, 02 September 2011 15:40

That Day in September -- Osama bin Laden biography

Written by Scott LaMar, Director of Radio Smart Talk

Radio Smart Talk for Monday, September 5:

Osama bin Laden was the world's most wanted man when he was hunted down and killed by U.S. Navy Seals last May in Pakistan. After the death of the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, most media reports quoted Americans calling bin Laden a 'madman, a criminal and a murderer."

Not all those descriptions were accurate, according to Michael Scheuer, the chief of the CIA's first bin Laden unit. Scheuer says bin Laden had great leadership ability, was a strategic genius and possessed considerable rhetorical skills. Scheuer writes in his biography of bin Laden released earlier this year that bin Laden didn't believe he was committing a criminal act with the terrorist attacks but instead was waging war on the West.

Michael Scheuer joins us on Monday's Radio Smart Talk to discuss what turned Osama bin Laden from a Saudi dissident to the most notorious killer in the world.

Monday's program is the first of five commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

LISTEN TO PROGRAM:

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# John 2011-09-05 09:45

Please comment on the Arab Awakening and US support for it.

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# Adelaide Steely 2011-09-05 09:53

The war against Islam goes back to 636 AD at Yarmouk, or the Golan Heights not 1973. The Islamic faith has been trying to destroy any other group of people since Muhammed heard his voices. The support of any refuges in Somalia with our US Aide is stupid as anyone left in any of the Arab nations who is not supporting Muslim Sharia is impossible. Those of us who are descended from those who have been fighting terrorism since 1492 know that the USA military knows how to defeat the Muslim Jihadists, who are not defending anything but continuing a policy of destroying any other people. Genocide was good enough for the Native Americans so why not the filthy raghats that hate educated women and have been fighting not only the Jews and Christians but everyone not into worshipping a meteorite in Mecca. Xe and Halliburton may be making money but they did not start the Koran hatred. You are a closet Islamist. We can drill through the glass for oil after an Atomic bombing.

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# Tom M 2011-09-05 10:02

Dr. Scheur stated that the majority of Muslims live in the Middle East. The majority of [censored]es, which comprise only 15% of all Muslims, live in the Mddle East, especially Iran. The majority of Muslims, however, live in Asia.

Additionally, how is it not right to help defend Israel, a legitimite, democratically elected country, of 6-7 million people against hostile neighbors who seek to "wipe Israel off the face of the earth.". Israel is surrounded by 30+ million enemies.

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# Adelaide Steely 2011-09-05 10:13

Tom is correct, the Jews have been in that part of the world just as Christians have since, respectively, at least four thousand years and 630 years prior to the founding of Islam by the voices Muhammed heard (and none of his relatives believed until he suggested plundering the neighbors) I personally remember a young man who was killed by a suicide bomber at a pizza place the day before he was scheduled to return from a religious journey to Israel. His mother is the pediatrician of a friend's children. That family was not fighting Islamists, they are moderate American Jews. Many of the Jews think that they can have a conviviance type exitence with the Muslims. See what the hardliners do to their own as in Asia! Who helped the rebuilding after the sunnami - the western nations using the World Bank. Where was Ben Ladin or the Saudis?

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# Jim 2011-09-05 11:59

A fascinating and thought-provoking show. I think the best points he makes are about how we misunderstood bin Laden and he misunderstood us. He believed the US wanted to launch another great Crusade to take over the Middle East. Our leaders kept harping that bin Laden "hated our freedoms". Neither was true. I think Scheuer's criticism of US support of Israel is a bit overdone, however.

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