We've all seen the footage of palestians celebreating. Im sure no one was pleased to see this, and it likely results in immediate hatred for palestinians. Remember, they are fed propoganda every day to make sure they hate americans. They have their reasons to hate the USA, but the propoganda has blown it out of proportion. Remember this when they show footage of them celebrating. That in itself is our own force fed propoganda, to make us hate them for what they rejoice for. Many people in RS think they should all be hung and then gutted. If that were the case, everyone in the USA should be done the same to. Also, don't be too quick to blame Benladin. He is a suspect, no more. Anyone could've done this if their efforts were concentrated. It could be a domestic attack. Maybe disbarred military personelle masterminded it all, maybe it was the pilots themselves, no one knows ANYTHING yet. It's not Benladin's MO to not claim an attack if he's responsible. My theory is that it was military based byy another country, and they wont claim responsibility for fear of wide scale war, but its just atheory. Theories are fine, but I havent passed judgement yet, and neither should you until concrete facts are put forth. ry

I agree. But then in cases like these, in states of fear and confusion, all people can do is make haphazard guesses. All I can say is this thing reminds me of that John Travolta/Hugh Jackman/Halle Berry movie Swordfish.

Bin Laden issued warning three weeks ago, says editor 09/12/2001 South China Morning Post Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden warned three weeks ago that he and his followers would carry out an unprecedented attack on the US for its support of Israel, an Arab journalist with access to him said yesterday. Editor of the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, Abdel-Bari Atwan, said Islamic fundamentalists led by bin Laden were "almost certainly" behind the attack. "It is most likely the work of Islamic fundamentalists. Osama bin Laden warned three weeks ago that he would attack American interests in an unprecedented attack, a very big one," he said. "We received information that he planned very, very big attacks against American interests. We received several warnings like this. We did not take it so seriously, preferring to see what would happen before reporting it." Atwan has interviewed bin Laden, one of America's most wanted men, and maintains close contacts with his followers. Bin Laden has been under constant watch by America's giant intelligence network - from CIA agents probing his latest hiding place to National Security Agency computers scanning global communications for key words related to his group. The sweep and the scale of what has been attempted rules out many fringe groups. The State Department has issued periodic warnings for American's overseas as rumours and intelligence point to unspecified attacks. The most recent came last month, but initial reports suggested the US authorities had nothing pointing to such an orchestrated and devastating attack. From several mountain hideouts in southern Afghanistan, bin Laden runs al-Qaeda, one of the world's most feared terrorist organisations. He is wanted by a US court for masterminding the bombing in 1998 of two US embassies in East Africa in which 224 people died. In August 1996 he issued a "declaration of war" against the US, because of what he saw as its position as a secular superpower and because of the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia. Born in Jeddah in 1955, bin Laden is the son of a construction magnate. In the 1980s he used his inherited wealth to run the "Services Office", which provided fighters and money for Afghanistan's war against Soviet occupation. Bin Laden is believed to be responsible for an attempted assassination attack on Sunday against Ahmad Shah Masood, Afghanistan's most senior opposition commander and the only force still resisting the Taleban.

Well young man, if years of observation and reading and study and being trained as an analyst are not enough education for tastes then so be it. I heard the declaration on Pearl Harbor in 1941, was a soldier during the Korean War. I believe that in trying to set yourself up a "fair", you ignore the facts. This Osama bin Laden is the leader, financier and general master craftman of the terrorist movement. He has a grudge against the US for many reasons, partly a family death that he blames the US for. As stated in the previous reply the facts are there. He did not fly the plane. He only sent a few of his own "soldiers" to death. He is a sponsor of treachery and would no more care for your freedoms than a broom swatting a bug. (Ignorance is a cureable condition, stupidity is not.)

Amen. And thanks too.

I second Start comment BUT I would replace the movie with a seventies film "Wrong is Right" -Staring well quite a few stars. Please don't misinterpret my comment in a previous thread I wm not stating my personal beliefs I was just stating what I believed the US president was saying. I am not unreasonably biased against BinLaden as the reason for the attack. However I think the term is "weighted" toward a beliife that BinLaden isf responsible. True there are many terrorists against the US. But Bin Laden is the current most active terrorist and therefor goes to the top of the list of suspects. What is strange however is that to my knowledge no one has claimed responsibility for this. Any idea how long it take for a terorist to take responsibility? Bsteph

bsteph, im not sure if you were speaking to me in your post, but I was not replying to anything anyone said in the forums. Just htat everyoneSEEMS to have already pointed their fingers in a direction with nothing more than suspicion. When I say everyone, I mean that there hasnt been much discussion from anyone in chats, television, school etc, merely everyone is discussing how to kill the fucker. True, he deserves to be punished for his past crimes, but at the moment, there is no evidence against him. He's in hiding, and I really can't see why that would automatically make him a suspect in this any more than he was before. He's in permanent hiding for his past crimes, and he knows he's the major suspect in this. If he didn't do it or if he did, he will still hide, so him being in hiding should not count as "evidence". I've had one predominant theory in this whole ything, but I am still wide open to other suggestions, because my theory has no more proof for it than we have for who got rid of Jimmy Hoffa. My theory is that it was a military based attack by another country. Terrorist organizations are usually proud of what they do, and proudly claim responsibility. It's been suggested that they would be too scared to claim because of everythingthing that happened. To me, this only means that the3y would be even prouder, and wave their hands in the air saying "WE DID IT!" If it was military based by another country, no country will come out and say "Hello Mr. President, we, the nation of -insert here_ proudly claim this crime, would you like to nuke us to the point where grass won't grow on our land for 5000 years now please?" If a country is responsible, I won't expect any claims for fear of total retaliation that the USA is capable of. If it was military, one has to think of who has much to gain. There are 4 potential other super powers oni the world that could take the US's place as "the" superpower of the world. First is Canada, though that is almost entirely ruled out as a possibility cause we would lose too much in screwing the US. The second is Russia. While they don't have the potential to take pover immediately, if the united states was reduced, they could easily recover in about 20-30 yearws or so. That is also unlikely. Thridly is Japan, simply because of the knowledge and technological power they possess, but the country is too small to become the world's superpower anytime soon, plus their markets are too directly connect to North America. Third is China, who the way I figure, has the most immediate possibility to gain anything in the wake of all this. I won't go into the extreme details of my theories, that would take waaaaayyyy too long. Keep in mind other possiblities: It could be domestic terrorism. remember mcveigh? It could be bin Ladin. It very well might not be bin Ladin. It could be a new terrorist group's first attack (they gotta start somewhere, might as well start big eh?). It could be military based by another country. It pretty much could've been anyone with the resources (there are too many people in the world, perceived to be both good and bad people, with the moeny to finance the intelligence for this) available to do this. Point being, we are not the US intelligence agencies, we are merely consumers and civilians. We don't know anything except what the media tells us. One thing you can hold for sure in mind is thaat we don't know anywhere near everything there is to know about this (there are reasons the CIA FBI NSA and other agencies are so secretive). What we know is that the pointed finger is aimed at bin Ladin, which gives the nation a temporary scapegoat so everyone can sleep a little easier at night. Remember, there are many possibilities. Make your own theories, but don't rule out anything, and don't be surprised when we are all surprised to the reprecussions of all this. ry

Hi Slynk, No I wasen't addressing you directly. I was addressing the others which seemed to address you. I suppose I was basically stradeling the line and saying keep an open mind BUT Bin Laden is at the top of the list. I agree with you view. BUT I also have this theory. What if this was an excuse crafted by the US to to "beef up" on the military and go after certain terorist organizations. ( I guess it's more of a Swordfish analogy. ) Of course that is a bit too much! So I guess not. Allright next time I promise to post pictures. Bsteph

Another one: Maybe it's another terrorist group (or worse, perhaps an ally? shudder). Since Bin Laden is the obvious suspect, the real perpetrators are off the hook, or at least not on top of the list. They had a guy on the receiving end of all the hate and blame without asking for it. Bsteph-- that was one of my theories, too -LOL- but, if the US wanted something to precipitate their anti-terrorist programs, then why paralyze a huge chunk of their business sector? Yup, way too much.

Hi peeps, I haven't seen older posts, as I'm just trying to get back into things here - having read this thread, thoug, I'd like to throw in my bit. I agree, Bin Laden may just be the main suspect as he is currently at the top of the list. However, I am of the opinion that, while it was a planned attack there are 2 things about it. 1. They say here it would have took months of planning - I disagree. With the information on aircraft that is available and the information on flight paths etc (America IS after all a very open country with information) this could have been planned easily within 2 weeks - you get an idea into your head and spend 120 hours on it (based on 60 hours a week - not much) you can organise QUITE a bit. 2. I really don't think they expected it to go this far. Pentagon hit & damaged - yes. World Trade Center TOTALLY collapsed? I don't think so - I think they just meant to cause massive amounts of damage to it..... However, that's my theory and I'm not qualified in any way shape or form, and not really interested in politics as long as they govornment doesn't screw me TOO much...... Cheers. M (",)