Was Osama Bin Laden a danger to the USA in 2000 and if so is he one now?

[Toots]

If he is no danger to the USA now why is that? What did Osama do to make him a danger in 2000 that he can not do now. In fact because of his "great success" with his attack (9-11), if indeed he had any part at all, he should be an even more valued leader and an inspiration to Al Qaeda. Does America understand something I do not? Have we (America) ,as Republicans say, scared Al Qaeda into inaction because of the way we slaughter Iraqis. That as long as we keep up the killing they would not dare attack us.."over here". Is this even a logical argument?

[hack89]

1. He was a danger in 2000

because we did not take the threat of terrorism seriously. Is a less of a threat today for two reasons - we take terrorism seriously and Al Qaeda has evolved into a different organization that is less centralized and less dependent on a single leader.

[jaksavage]

2. No more than GWB is.

They are old friends
Peers
Both know the value of good and evil
and the necesity for each

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. I would say he was a danger in 2000.

Would the 9/11 attacks have happened without him? Difficult to say. He certainly was instrumental in organizing Al Qaeda, regardless of whether or not he had a huge amount of direct influence over the 9/11 plot. It is, however, difficult to imagine it going ahead without his OK.

Is he a danger now? Well, I guess it's all relative. I think a more apropriate question would be "is he a serious danger?" It's difficult to say, given how little we know about the current Al Qaeda organization. Our intelligence in this area has never been particularly great. However, given a free hand I'm sure he'd be right back up to his old tricks again.

[Bicoastal]

4. I hate that Republican argument!

"How many terrorist attacks have happened since 9/11?"

Well, they're happening every day in Iraq and Afghanistan....

They've happened in Britain and in Spain....

And 9/11 happened under Bush's watch. That's reason enough to believe we're not safe as long as he's the president.