Over the last couple of days I’ve been reading a book called, “The Finish” by Mark Bowden, the fellow who wrote “Black Hawk Down”.
It is about the mission which dispatched Osama bin Laden and the intrigues which fed into it right from the US retaliation for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks after which they were basically just swinging in the dark at any threatening shape they could see to the sophisticated military and intelligence efforts they are now executing and which resulted in the death of the ogre in the back suburbs of a relatively prosperous Pakistani city.
It is an interesting read that makes me wonder about the mental condition of men like Osama bin Laden, men who have no consideration for the collateral damage which will be caused in the terrorist enterprises which they invoke, only a sense of superiority and an iron clad will and belief that such killing of infidel is to the benefit of their religion and will see a spot marked out for them in heaven. Crazy.
Bin Laden really did seem to be a deluded character driven by a medieval mindset and a “messiah”complex which prevented him from seeing reality. A state of mind which is hard to comprehend for a 21st century man such as myself who enjoys all the benefits of a rich and developed western economy
I’m not going to get into religion or the political rights and wrongs of the events in the middle east but just lately I have wondered if bin Laden and men of similar ilk suffer from personality conditions or are just sociopaths or complete psychopaths.
Bin Laden deluded himself into thinking a minor skirmish he took part in at a training base he had set up and financed in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation which saw the Soviets retreat from the encounter with bin Laden’s religious fighters, as a sign of God’s divine will and when the Soviet empire collapsed soon after he believed his efforts had played a major role in this downfall. He began to see himself as a man who could bend fortune to his own will and with his substantial financial assets being used generously in his struggle his minor victory against the Soviets soon became a propaganda coup and many fighters from all over the world flocked to his banner as a result.
Of course the Soviets were already winding down their occupation of Afghanistan at this point, ground down by years of guerrilla warfare which had been financed by the CIA to the tune of six billion dollars a year! Thus is revealed the true architects of the Soviet failure in Afghanistan
Bin Laden felt a huge strike against the USA such as the one he designed and his operatives effected in New York in September 2001 would be the tipping point of his struggle against the infidel and the destruction of an iconic American centre of finance would be the beginning of the end for the American “empire” and usher in a new age where a united Islamic Caliphate would take centre stage and those of us who were left would bow to it’s will or die. Such is the deluded mind of a religious fanatic.
The strike on New York was merely a case of pulling the tiger by the tail and it has rounded on it’s attackers, reconstituted it’s defence force and intelligence assets and technological edge and honed it to be a fine killing machine capable of reaching these fanatics almost at will anywhere in the world.
In 2001 the United States military was still very much a force which was trained to fight Soviet aggression on the plains of western Europe. In 2012 it is the leading exponent of asymmetric warfare and is taking the fight to it’s enemies whenever it feels the need.
Bin Laden was no hero. Just a sad, pathetic man, shaped by his upbringing and a hatred of others who he didn’t try to understand. The ultimate discriminator. Surely there are greater men in the middle east to follow?
I have come to the conclusion that historical record is merely one historian’s opinion and interpretation of the facts as he sees them and researches them and his conclusions can often be formed and flawed for many reasons, his own upbringing, education and personality all playing a part.
There is no black and white in history, just shades of grey and your opinion may well settle depending on where you are from, the company you keep or your own instinctive take on what is good or bad.
The history of the middle east cannot be looked upon as a black and white matter. No one in this hotbed of dissatisfaction is completely right or wrong. But those who take sides argue the point to the bitter end using facts that may not, and usually do not stand up to scrutiny. Such is the case at the moment with the continuing conflagration in middle east which is capturing attention in the media. Don’t believe men like bin Laden. Research for yourself and try to find some middle ground. You will probably not be far wrong from there.
Have a nice day.
It is about the mission which dispatched Osama bin Laden and the intrigues which fed into it right from the US retaliation for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks after which they were basically just swinging in the dark at any threatening shape they could see to the sophisticated military and intelligence efforts they are now executing and which resulted in the death of the ogre in the back suburbs of a relatively prosperous Pakistani city.
It is an interesting read that makes me wonder about the mental condition of men like Osama bin Laden, men who have no consideration for the collateral damage which will be caused in the terrorist enterprises which they invoke, only a sense of superiority and an iron clad will and belief that such killing of infidel is to the benefit of their religion and will see a spot marked out for them in heaven. Crazy.
Bin Laden really did seem to be a deluded character driven by a medieval mindset and a “messiah”complex which prevented him from seeing reality. A state of mind which is hard to comprehend for a 21st century man such as myself who enjoys all the benefits of a rich and developed western economy
I’m not going to get into religion or the political rights and wrongs of the events in the middle east but just lately I have wondered if bin Laden and men of similar ilk suffer from personality conditions or are just sociopaths or complete psychopaths.
Bin Laden deluded himself into thinking a minor skirmish he took part in at a training base he had set up and financed in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation which saw the Soviets retreat from the encounter with bin Laden’s religious fighters, as a sign of God’s divine will and when the Soviet empire collapsed soon after he believed his efforts had played a major role in this downfall. He began to see himself as a man who could bend fortune to his own will and with his substantial financial assets being used generously in his struggle his minor victory against the Soviets soon became a propaganda coup and many fighters from all over the world flocked to his banner as a result.
Of course the Soviets were already winding down their occupation of Afghanistan at this point, ground down by years of guerrilla warfare which had been financed by the CIA to the tune of six billion dollars a year! Thus is revealed the true architects of the Soviet failure in Afghanistan
Bin Laden felt a huge strike against the USA such as the one he designed and his operatives effected in New York in September 2001 would be the tipping point of his struggle against the infidel and the destruction of an iconic American centre of finance would be the beginning of the end for the American “empire” and usher in a new age where a united Islamic Caliphate would take centre stage and those of us who were left would bow to it’s will or die. Such is the deluded mind of a religious fanatic.
The strike on New York was merely a case of pulling the tiger by the tail and it has rounded on it’s attackers, reconstituted it’s defence force and intelligence assets and technological edge and honed it to be a fine killing machine capable of reaching these fanatics almost at will anywhere in the world.
In 2001 the United States military was still very much a force which was trained to fight Soviet aggression on the plains of western Europe. In 2012 it is the leading exponent of asymmetric warfare and is taking the fight to it’s enemies whenever it feels the need.
Bin Laden was no hero. Just a sad, pathetic man, shaped by his upbringing and a hatred of others who he didn’t try to understand. The ultimate discriminator. Surely there are greater men in the middle east to follow?
I have come to the conclusion that historical record is merely one historian’s opinion and interpretation of the facts as he sees them and researches them and his conclusions can often be formed and flawed for many reasons, his own upbringing, education and personality all playing a part.
There is no black and white in history, just shades of grey and your opinion may well settle depending on where you are from, the company you keep or your own instinctive take on what is good or bad.
The history of the middle east cannot be looked upon as a black and white matter. No one in this hotbed of dissatisfaction is completely right or wrong. But those who take sides argue the point to the bitter end using facts that may not, and usually do not stand up to scrutiny. Such is the case at the moment with the continuing conflagration in middle east which is capturing attention in the media. Don’t believe men like bin Laden. Research for yourself and try to find some middle ground. You will probably not be far wrong from there.
Have a nice day.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 