This article is part of the DaanSpeak-series Conspiracy
Al Qaeda does not exist - Bin Laden videos are fake
Osama bin Laden is dead
The Dutch in the original article has been translated into English by Marienella Meulensteen.
Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are seen by friend and foe as superpowers. But is this realistic? 'What is this al-Qaeda? Does such a group even exist? Some terrorism experts doubt it.
Adam Dolnik and Kimberly McCloud reckon it's time we 'defused the widespread image of al-Qaeda as a ubiquitous, super-organised terror network and call it as it is: a loose collection of groups and individuals that doesn't even refer to itself as al-Qaeda'. Dolnik and McCloud - who first started studying terrorism at the prestigious Monterey Institute of International Studies in California - claim it was Western officials who imposed the name 'al-Qaeda' onto disparate radical Islamic groups and who blew Osama bin Laden's power and reach 'out of proportion'. Both are concerned about the threat of terror, but argue that we should 'debunk the myth of al-Qaeda'', writes Spiked.
U.S. changes Bin Laden into superman
'In the quest to define the enemy, the U.S. and its allies have helped to blow it out of proportion. Posters and matchbooks featuring bin Laden's face and the reward for his capture in a dozen languages transformed this little-known "jihadist" into a household name and, in some places, a symbol of heroic defiance', McCloud wrote earlier. This sounds as if the U.S. made a big mistake to make Bin Laden out to be a supreme power. But it is not stupid at all, it confirms our opinion that the war against terrorism has the goal to promote terrorism. Creation of a superman image for Bin Laden cannot be explained in any other way than a strategic step forward for the U.S. The more dangerous an enemy, the better the position of authority for the defender. The authority of Bush has grown proportionally to exaggerating the status of Bin Laden.
The origin of the Al-Qaeda myth
How it all started can be seen in the excellent documentary series of the BBC, The Power of Nightmares. Jason Burke, author of the book Al-Qaeda : The True Story of Radical Islam tells in part three of the series how in January 2001 a number of men were placed on trial in Manhattan for the attack on the American Embassy in Kenya in 1998. The Americans are stuck with a well-paid witness named Al Fadl, who is well paid by them, but up to then is not taken seriously by many countries. They decide to throw their influence onto the scale by having the witness describe a powerful organisation called Al Qaeda who would be responsible for the attack. That is necessary to comply with the existing American laws that really have been designed to tackle 'organized crime' like the Mafia. Burke: 'You have to have an organisation to get a prosecution. And you have al-Fadl and a number of other witnesses, a number of other sources, who are happy to feed into this. You’ve got material that, looked at in a certain way, can be seen to show this organisation’s existence. You put the two together and you get what is the first bin Laden myth—the first Al Qaeda myth. And because it’s one of the first, it’s extremely influential.' Bin Laden himself denies having ties with Al Fadl, which would be strange if the two would be responsible together for the attack in Kenya. In fact, every attacker is dying to claim his deed.
Voice Over: 'The picture al-Fadl drew for the Americans of Bin Laden was of an all-powerful figure at the head of a large terrorist network that had an organised network of control. He also said that bin Laden had given this network a name: “Al Qaeda.” It was a dramatic and powerful picture of Bin Laden, but it bore little relationship to the truth.' Building on the quicksand of a weak witness, the false idea is constructed of a terrorist superpower, lead by the super terrorist Bin Laden.
There is no Al Qaeda organisation
The Voice Over in part three of The Power of Nightmares states further: 'There is also no evidence that Bin Laden used the term “Al Qaeda” to refer to the name of a group until after September the 11th, when he realized that this was the term the Americans have given it. <...> In reality, Jamal al-Fadl was on the run from bin Laden, having stolen money from him. In return for his evidence, the Americans gave him witness protection in America and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many lawyers at the trial believed that al-Fadl exaggerated and lied to give the Americans the picture of a terrorist organisation that they needed to prosecute Bin Laden.'
Sam Schmidt was an attorney during the court case: 'I think he lied in a number of specific testimonies about a unified image of what this organisation was. It made Al Qaeda the new Mafia or the new Communists.' Jason Burke summarizes it clearly when he says: 'The idea—which is critical to the FBI’s prosecution—that bin Laden ran a coherent organisation with operatives and cells all around the world of which you could be a member is a myth. There is no Al Qaeda organisation. There is no international network with a leader, with cadres who will unquestioningly obey orders, with tentacles that stretch out to sleeper cells in America, in Africa, in Europe. That idea of a coherent, structured terrorist network with an organised capability simply does not exist.'
snip
http://www.daanspeak.com/AlQaeda01Eng.html
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
