The Radicalization of Osama bin Laden and the Recent Revolutions
 

Alright so we all know OBL, but I think that where he came from and how he came to be gets overlooked. The reason I bring this up is because of the recent revolutions and how this fits in with Zawahiri's original vision for an Islamist Middle East. I have written up a history of OBL here (Tough Vote: The Life and Radicalization of Osama bin Laden) which goes into the ideological shaping starting as a young man.

What do think al Qaeda's role will be in Egypt and Libya? Zawahiri has long waited for an Egyptian revolution will he, if he is still alive, break with OBL to pursue his Egyptian cause? Let me know what you think.

We don't know if Zawahiri is alive, we don't know if OBL is alive, we don't know if al-qaeda as an organisation exists, but what do we think of their role in Egyptian mess-up? http://www.uspoliticsonline.net/imag.../confused1.gif

Surreal...

I think al Qaeda is too violence prone to succeed as a political force in Egypt or Libya. The Muslim Brotherhood [which spawned Zawahiri] is more apt to capitalize on these revolutions in the M.E. and try to use them to revive the old caliphate.

It's hardly inconcievable at this point that the world could end up with a defacto supranational Islamic state in the M.E and north Africa. Which happens to be bin Laden's vision--or the major part of it, anyway.

He has the same objective as MuBro, just a different way of achieving it.