Is Al Qaeda Real?

[Stevendsmith]

I mean, is this a unified terrorist network? Or do the liars in government need a single name for a diverse terrorist threat? I'm tired of being lied to. Why should I believe anything my government tells me?

I do realize a good number of serious academics accept the existence of Al Qaeda.

Hmmmmm....

[DenverDem]

1. Al CIAda is very real.

Real what? That is the question.

[Beware the Beast Man]

2. I'm sure they exist

And that they are one of the more powerful terrorist groups out there. But you do have it right about the govt. needing to use an umbrella term for terrorism. As far as they're concerned, al Qaeda is responsible for everything on their global agenda, even when they're really not.

[Goldmund]

3. I have the same thoughts

It's probably real and it's probably one of the stronger ones, yes. But as far as Al Qaeda being behind every single terrorist attack (you know, the "Al Qaeda affiliated groups"), I don't buy that for a second. US propaganda machine need a single name and a single face (Osama) to antrhopomorphize the threat we're supposedly addressing and create a cultural boogie-man. Also, that way they give the illusion that the "war on terror" can actually be definitively won (get Osama, dismantle Al Qaeda, voila).

[Bandit]

4. Al Qaeda means "The Base"

What do you think of when you think of Bush*'s Base?

[TheCentepedeShoes]

18. I thought

I saw somewher that that's what it meant. And * is too stupid to see the irony.

[Aidoneus]

23. loose translations and shorthand..

the term comes from Azzam's "Qa'idat al-Sulbah", or "Vanguard of the Strong". In short, an example for others to emulate and not so much an organization as the dictionary defines it. That remains so to this day, the deliberately mistaken perceptions notwithstanding.

[Aidoneus]

24. strange error

The reply appeared, but it didn't bump the thread to the top nor does it appear in my history.. has that happened to anybody else?

[parasim]

5. Good question...

Here's one view:

Does Al-Qaeda Exist?
http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DFED.htm

and here's the Wikipedia entry for it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Qaeda

[forgethell]

6. Sure th ey exist, but

they are hardly all of the terrorists in the world.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

7. There is no such things as Al Qaeda...

"Al Qaeda" was the name of an Osama Bin Laden run, US funded training base in Afghanistan during the war against the Soviet occupation.

At that time, Bin Laden's organisation was called "Maktab al-Khidimat" (source).

Later Bin Laden did not have an organisation of his own as such, but acted as a source of funds and support for many different Islamic groups, which were collectively known as "the Bin Laden Organisation" by security and intelligence forces around the world.

The most recent name Bin Laden's organisation has taken (that I have seen) is the "World Islamic Front", which once again incorporates many organisations such as the "Jihad Group" (Egypt), "Egyptian Islamic Group", "Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan", and the "Jihad Movement" in Bangladesh (source).

So to answer your question, no, there is no such organisation a "Al Qaeda".

Why the US insists on calling it that is a matter for speculation, considering the REAL Al Qaeda was a US funded CIA/Mujahideen training camp.

[thebigidea]

8. I just loved how right after 9/11...

... there was an instant army of experts, pundits, and sages who claimed to know everything about Al-Qaeda, yet never got around to giving us much information about it other than "terra terra be scared."

[ElementaryPenguin]

9. Yes. Main leaders are CheneyRumsfeldWolfowitzPerleFeithRoveAshcroft

Oh yeah, plus Osama Bin Laden, who has far less clout!

[htuttle]

10. They're as real as Jesus

Ya just gotta have faith, son...

:evilgrin:

[moderate_hero]

11. The modern boogeyman

It is a way for the BFEE to get children to eat their vegetables and their parents to vote Repuke.

[newyawker99]

14. Hi moderate_hero!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[moderate_hero]

16. hi

Thanks for the welcome.

[Gregorian]

12. Perhaps not.

About a year ago, while watching one of the few channels that airs nightly Middle East newscasts, I saw an interview done on the streets of Iraq. One man looked into the camera and said something to the effect that noone knows what Al Qaeda is. He meant that it was something undefinable. It was intangible. He had a frustration that was obviously over America's insistence that it fight this so-called terrorist group who he claimed even people who lived in the middle east, could not identify.

Sorry about the poor sentence structure, and nonspecific info.


If you all really want to know what i think about this mess I'd love to tell you. But I feel that we are all so focussed on politicians that we have nearly lost sight of it. We vote not by ballot, but by action. And the act of driving is what has us in this perdicament. Whether it's bush or Kerry, or Jesus Christ, as long as we continue to destroy our society, and the rest of the world, with the car, and combustion of petroleum, this will continue. I'm going to begin bowing out of this forum, and all of the rest of them now. I'm tired of fighting the wrong end of the battle. Sure, Kerry wouldn't have been such an asshole. But WE are responsible for this mess, not George, not Cheney, not Ashcroft. All we have to do is stop consuming. That's it.

[StandUpGuy]

15. Please don't bow out

We need people like you to kick these Kerry worshipers in the ass and wake them up to the real issues. You are not alone.


I do not want your SUV
I do not want your 5000 sq ft house

I want peace
I want justice
I want a clean environment for my children's children

[Gregorian]

19. You're kind :)

I only make enemies with my statements. But it's painfully obvious to me what has happened. In fact, it's not even clear whether I am correct, in the absolute sense. But it isn't consumption as much as overpopulation. Since there were four people, there were problems. But not problems we couldn't handle. We now are unable to go further until we stop the population problem. No matter what we do, it's going to keep us in a nosedive. It's a very difficult subject from at least a half dozen facets. We still have a choice to be responsible, or have it done for us. And that last option is UGLY. I've been in a state of hopelessness for decades now. I've even alienated people on this forum with my distaste for overpopulation. My whole self is tainted by my powerlessness to it. I am a vigilant person. I watch. I observe. That is what I do. Most people don't do that. There is nothing I can do to convince people that the problem exists. One is either unlucky enough to see it, or they are part of the problem. Cars don't drive themselves. Houses aren't built for nobody. Fish don't disappear from the rivers by themselves.
Another diatribe for noone. Another downer. I wait for the day when I can see the human race be the wonderful thing that it is. But until then, I only see the dark side. We can't have more than one kid for a hundred years. And then, only then, will we be back to a point of sanity. Where maybe fish can return, and people are not resentful against one another, due to crowding. And there's nothing I can do without being considered evil. As far as I'm concerned, people with four kids are just plain ignorant. I can't do anything. Except express myself. Damn those who think it's just negativity.

[StandUpGuy]

21. Funny I to get accused of...

Nihilism, defeatism and even irresponsibility.

It used to bug me, and still does if I'm honest, but I march on.

Over population is something I have considered very seriously after my sister in law was invited to a WHO conference at which a new Sterilization vaccine used in animals was being discussed.

However it was now being considered for use on humans and more precisely third world humans, starting in India.


I have no links or official sources to back that up but I don't care. I trust my sister in-law.

Here are a few questions I have asked myself.

1 Are we in the west, with low birth rates, more enlightened, smarter, or more responsible than the rest of the developing world ?

2.Where I live Condoms cost around $1 each. Even if the Third world could be educated on the harms of HIV and over population could they even afford to continue a responsible contraception regime?

3. Does the third world have the social safety nets in place to deal with lower birth rates? (more below)


It all comes down to wealth and the western plunder of the third world.
As we lower our infant mortality rates we have less children.
When we have a social safety net that provides for us in our old age we have less kids because we need less to provide for us in our old age. Poverty is the key.

Therefore my answer to the first question is a qualified Yes.

The other two are really answers in their own right. In my opinion Third world over population is a direct result of Western oppression and exploitation.

If we want a quick fix to the problem that allows for a continued western dominance we should seriously consider the WHO sterilization plans. If not welcome more sinister AIDS type experiments.

If we believe that we should work quickly to divest in criminal regimes we have propped up in the third world and start real foreign aid to build hospitals schools and homes for the people we have victimized for the last few centuries then I think there is hope.

But in the end I think its all part of the same NWO problem. The third world will comply once we in the west address their concerns.

[Gregorian]

22. That was insightful. Beautiful.

I agree totally. After all, this is an equation that is the result of compassion, not oppression, as some would believe. However, I see this as a phenomenon. As I studied many years of mathematics, I was able to see what is a worldwide effect. I think oppression is only a factor. I think this is a much more insidious thing than people realize. It is similar to the effect each one of us has when we start our car. It is only one car, we think. But we are a mass of billions. And one car turns into billions of cars. And that's where the problem lies- in multiplicity. So it goes with wanting a child or two, or more. It's just me. But it isn't, just "me". It's us. Billions of "us".

Edit- I forgot to say, that if people could only see, really see, the math behind this phenomenon, they would be chilled to the core. We are at a precipice in the history of mankind, that is extremely serious. In just 20 years, we may double in population. (got to go. Tour de France rules my life.)

And I am very sorry for taking this thread and hijacking it. Forgive me.

[leftofthedial]

13. it is real

it is very small and far less of a threat than the bushgang want us to believe

the name is used to describe every poosible "terrorist" boogeyman the bushgang can pile into the FUD (fear, uncertianty and doubt) bucket

[MissB]

17. speaking of terrorists, can someone help me find the link to

the homegrown one that was quietly arrested recently. I think it was in Texas - something to do with an oil tanker.

Thanks.

[liberalitch]

20. Probably more real today than they were 9/11...

what a powerful recruitment tool our foreign policy has been too!