[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] X626 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Sir Fragula Unlikely. Al Qæda as an organisation didn't actually exist until post 11/09, and even then it's just a small group of rich men who occasionally allow their money to be used for their geopolitical ends...[/quote] Actually that is incorrect. Al Queda has been around [b]at least[/b] since 1995, and in 1996 claimed responsibility for the attacks on the USS Cole. They have been around for probably much longer than that, hiding in the shadows like the weasels they are. Please do not belittle their involvment in worldwide affaris - they are a very real and dangerous threat and in no way are "just a small group of rich men with geo-poitical ends". They are a large and extremely dangerous group that needs to be exterminated for the vermin they are.[/quote] Well, you're wrong. The person who coined the phrase Al Qæda, [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_al-Fadl]Jamal al-Fadl[/url], was in fact a criminal on the run from Osama after having stolen money from him. In order to gain a massive amount of money and witness protection from the US, he testified in court about the existence of this organisation with Osama at the head. This was needed by the US, as they wanted to try Osama in absentia, but under laws designed to tackle the Mafia, they first needed to prove he was head of a criminal organisation... and thus Al Qæda was born. As I said, the first time Osama uses the name Al Qæda is after 11/09, when he realises this is the name and organisation America has created for him. It fits in with his geopolitical aims to have some mythic sprawling tentacled organisation around the world to inspire fear, and thus he keeps it going. Prior to this, he'd [i]funded[/i] small, independant attacks, but indirectly and with little direct involvement. The fact is that there just isn't some massive and all pervading terrorist network known as Al Qæda. It's small, isolated groups who occasionally received funding from a small cabal of rich Saudis.