Which term best describes al Qaeda?

[Minstrel Boy]

Poll question: Which term best describes al Qaeda?

Either or, here. You may have a better description, but which of these terms comes closest to your understanding of what al Qaeda's about?

[freetobegay]

1. I can't believe this was even asked.

[plurality]

6. I know, you'd think people would know by now

That a group whose actions only benefit the Corporate American Empire must be working for it in some way, but so many people just don't want to look at reality.

[DoverFrank]

2. What is BFEE?

Ive seen that a few times but cant piece it together.

[Walt Starr]

4. Bush Family Evil Empire

n/t

[GiovanniC]

5. Bush Family Evil Empire n/t

[Walt Starr]

3. The choice was pretty obvious to me

:shrug:

[jokerman93]

7. Al Qaeda?

Grammatically:
Al Qaeda is a content-free noun designator.

Mythologically:
Al Qaeda is the great evil scourge led by a shadowy billionaire genius who roams the planet causing chaos.

Politically:
Al Qaeda is anyone who wants to blow up the empire's shit.

[Minstrel Boy]

8. I ask, because I was re-reading the recent interview with

former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, whom John Ashcroft has largely gagged with a rare invocation of "State Secrets Privilege." (The interview can be read here: http://baltimorechronicle.com/050704SibelEdmonds.shtml; it was discussed in an archived thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1555133&mesg_id=1555133).

What Edmonds has been able to say includes having been asked to falsify translations of pre-9/11 intercepts which provided much more detail regarding the attacks than has been revealed, including dates, targets, the use of planes as weapons, and perpetrators. Part of what she is prohibited from discussing involves the money trail.

In the interview, she's asked about the transfer to Mohammed Atta of hundreds of thousands of dollars over the summer of 2001 by the head of Pakistani intelligence, who happened to be in Washington the week of the attack, meeting with senior leaders. The journalist concludes by remarking, "the evidence confirms that al-Qaeda is supported by Pakistan's ISI, and it is amply documented that the ISI owes its existence to the CIA."

Edmonds replies: "I cannot comment on that. But I can tell that once, and if, and when this issue gets to be, under real terms, investigated, you will be seeing certain people that we know from this country standing trial; and they will be prosecuted criminally.

"...the issue, on one side, boils down to money--a lot of money. And it boils down to people and their connections with this money, and that's the portion that... has not been mentioned to this day. Because then it starts touching some people in high places.

...

"You get to a point where it gets very complex, where you have money laundering activities, drug related activities, and terrorist support activities converging at certain points and becoming one. In certain points - and they (the intelligence community) are separating those portions from just the terrorist activities. And, as I said, they are citing "foreign relations" which is not the case, because we are not talking about only governmental levels. And I keep underlining semi-legit organizations and following the money. When you do that the picture gets grim. It gets really ugly."

[Screaming Lord Byron]

9. Al-Queda were trained by the CIA as part of the war in Afghanistan

The question is whose asset are they now? That's what worries me.

[Bombtrack]

13. No they weren't. The mujahadeen were trained by the CIA

And many prominent Mujahadeen became Al Queada when the CIA abandoned and broke with them. After the cold war ended the CIA had no interest in supporting Islamic fundementalists.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

16. You're agreeing with me, then.

Many Al-Queda members were trained by the CIA for operations in Afghanistan. That's what I said.

[JohnLocke]

10. Both.

[Domitan]

11. Remember 24 Hours

During the second season, one of the leading corporate criminals (who manipulated events so that a nuclear bomb could enter the USA) admitted on his cellphone that the motive was "controlled chaos". Ironic that this came from a FOX show.

My answer: both. Yes, there are fanatics but they are very useful pawns for those war profiteers.

[stickdog]

12. Both. Sometimes it's them. Mostly it's us.

"al Qaeda" is a vitally necessary Western intel construct.

The problem with the "terrorist enemy" replacing the USSR was that existing terrorist groups were way too small-time. Furthermore, they were always bragging about pulling off the tiniest acts of terror imaginable in their vain efforts to draw attention to themselves and their causes. Quite simply put, it was hard to take them seriously.

What we needed was a worthy adversary with scary destructive capabilities who wasn't concerned with the kind of publicity that would generate more and more actual terrorism.

"Al Qaeda" stands for "any terrorist or terrorist-like act sophisticated and deadly enough that Western mil/intel assets would otherwise be the primary suspects."

[hatrack]

14. I think of them as "Fred Phelps With Money And Explosives"

Now, if I could only figure out what "Westboro Baptist Church" is in Arabic . . .

[CityZen-X]

15. The Eastern Version of the...

Shining Path

[AngryAmish]

17. Does not exist

[napi21]

18. It's neither of those choices.

al Qaeda is an extreme fundamentalist religious group that believes they are the only good people who follow their god's instructions and are willing to kill and die for their beliefs.

I listened to a teacher from the Dennedy school of law this morning on C-span. She wrote a book titled Terrorists who kill under God, or something like that. It was quqite interesting and her most profound statement was that there are extremests in all religions, and there really isn't much difference between al Qaeda and the Christian zellots who kill Drs. and others at Planned Parenthood Clinics because of abortion.

[IronLionZion]

19. Who benefits from Al Qaeda operations?

I think that's the right track to the answer.