I was just wondering, does Osama bin Laden or any other enemy of the USA have the power to take us down, unaided, through their own efforts? I would say no. A resounding NO.

They can't do it without our help, our mistakes, our ignorance, our inability to understnd the situation and to stay away from falling into traps they have set to ensnare us. If we do this war right, if we know how to grab the initiative and how to rob our opponent of his strength, this war will be a gimme. We can't lose.

If we rush in without foresight and forethought, confident that we cannot lose, we will endanger our nation and all who live here. Because there s no war that cannot be lost through hubris. Look at Vietnam, then look even deeper, at THIS WAR and the men who will wage it.

Bin Laden cannot wipe us out if we don't help him. He is weak, except (perhaps) in knowing our weaknesses and how to exploit them. If we don't help him, nothing else could possibly result in his victory.

If I were to point out our two greatest weaknesses, from a strategic point of view, it would be our unfamiliarity with and intolerance of civilian casualties on USA soil, and our arrogance to believe that, since we have unparalleled technology to fight with, we are invincible. We are in a guerilla war on our own soil. We have to be cagey here and we have to accept it AS WAR, not as a disturbance we can obliterate with a few well-placed bombs.

This war has been brought home. That is bin Laden's secret weapon and his best ally. Some of us will die here, at home, before it is over. Doesn't matter what measures we take. It's a sure thing. Look at Israel.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), October 01, 2001

Answers

Yup, but don't underesimate the more conventional weapons that are in the pipeline as described in the bookreview that I just published on "SADDAM'S BOMBMAKER".

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 01, 2001.

Destroy us? Depends on what you mean by destroy. I doubt they could entirely wipe out every person in the country, but I think they could kill off about 20-50% of our population within a week or two. Especially if their next plan works as well as the WTC plan did, a 75% success ratio. Spreading Anthrax or Smallpox or something like that is going to be even easier than it was to hit the towers. That one was just for show, to get our attention and make us look stupid. Now they are going to get down to some serious killing. They're just waiting for Dumbya to make another stupid move so that he will be held responsible. That's exactly what they want. He can't resist the temptation to be a hero, so I guess we'll find out the answer to your question soon enough.

-- (via con dios @ amigo.), October 01, 2001.

"He is weak". I don't think so. I think Osama is extremely strong in many ways. You underestimate him which I don't think our military will.

"That is bin Laden's secret weapon and his best ally." Nothing 'secret' about it. I'm not sure I'd refer to it as an 'ally', maybe just a 'strategy'. IMO

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), October 01, 2001.