Thompson: Bin Laden 'more symbolism than anything else'

"Republican Fred Thompson said Friday that terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is "more symbolism than anything else" as the presidential hopeful warned of possible greater al-Qaida threats within the United States."

http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/ap-thompson-bin-laden-more-symbolism-than-anything-else/116855.htm

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Are you senile old man?
Has the cancer hit your fucking brain or something?

Try telling that face to face with those who lost loved ones in the Twin Towers.

What a POS.

Where is it stated that OBL is no longer an active leader, or THE leader of al Qaeda?

Is this wishful thinking or real?

What gives Thompson the authority to speak as if he knows that OBL is not an active leader in the al Qaeda movement?
Answer: Nothing.

He is talking out his ass.

If the Repubs admit that OBL is more than "just a symbol" then that means they are faliures in their "dead or alive"-"follow him to the ends of the earth" macho nonsense they never followed through on. That means also that invading Iraq was far less of any importance then capturing OBL.

Of course they need to minimize OBL...except when it comes to using him as a boogeyman to garner votes.


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While the administration left off the hunt for bin Laden - the most obvious perp of 9/11 -to invade and occupy Iraq - a failing and weakened state - his image is still useful politically, while his capture and trial seem secondary.

Think about it, Freddy, you dumbass!

What Islamic leader has ever declared war and then attacked the USofA, and is still living, fighting, plotting more attacks, and making videos six years later?......

Hell, Fred, name ANYONE in history who has!

the "WALL" and other war memorials, historical sites, etc. etc. are symbols; same thing with the Nazi Swaztika, and the KKK's burning cross as symbols of the dark side.....but they aren't leaders or heros like a George Washington is considered by most Americans, or an OBL is to alot of Muslims.



just my opinion

You berate him for saying it, then indirectly back him up on it.

... cymbalism...
Not symbolism

Osama bin Laden is more cymbalism... Jeesh Shred.

Its not like OBL has to micromanage Al Queda, or even knows what's going on in the worldwide "organization". I doubt they correspond by E-Mail or phone anyways. OBL provides the FINANCING and TRAINING, then he sets these guys loose, and they do whatever they want, with perhaps a hint as to what to target. Other than that, I doubt OBL knows any particulars, nor would he even know who was involved in any particular strike. Centralization is a weakness in a terrorist organization, cut off the head, and the rest is lost. Al Queda, I don't think, exists as a cohesive singular group, but as several different groups with some shared goals.

Al Qaeda owes a LOT of their success to his backing and much of their "popularity" to his diatribes. They don't sound like shit to us, but bin Laden is basically the Rush Limbaugh of Wahhabist terrorism. What he says matters. He inspires lunatics to kill. He bankrolls lots of their operations.

Al Qaeda probably owes more of their success to bin Laden than they do even to George Bush.

for terrorists, that he orders hits, stuff like that. I doubt it, he's more like an financier for independent contractors. He trains some guys, gives them a wad of cash, and they do whatever they want with it. Actually I wonder what the fraud rate is for Al Queda, pretty high considering that OBL can't go to the authorities when defrauded. Besides that, I bet many of these groups, probably most of them, are self financed already, and only borrow the Al Queda name when it suits them.

I'm not minimizing OBL's responsibility, just clarifying how his group, or associate groups, or however you define them, can be so damned effective for all these years. Besides that, the most valuable thing that OBL and his associates do isn't measured in dollar signs, but in tactics. Remember they got the BEST guerrilla and terrorist training that money can buy during the 1980s from the CIA.

What callous bastard calls a mass murderer mostly a symbol?

you pal are an empty vessel that all the disaffected members of your party are pouring their little hopes and dreams into and boy are they going to be disappointed when you don't deliver.