Osama Bin Laden now being treated as a legitimate leader in the media:

[Deja Q]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4684989.stm

Support for Osama Bin Laden and Islamic militant violence is falling in several key Muslim countries, according to a new survey by a US organisation.

The Pew Research Center poll suggests that support for suicide bombing is declining sharply.

The survey examined public opinion in Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon and 11 other states.

The poll also found that concern about Islamic extremism was prevalent in several nations with a Muslim majority.

Correspondents say this may be partly because violent acts in some of the states interviewed have been blamed on Islamist radicals.

Nice to know Muslims don't like the bastard, but the tone the article presents seems pretty bizarre in that it gives the impression of treating OBL as a real leader and not a murderous lunatic.

[RPM]

1. well shit

that was the problem with **'s approach from the get go - it legitimized Bin Laden as a world leader rather than terrorist.
One doesn't make war on a foreign criminal, only foreign states.

So far, we have played right into his hands.
- he is the pseudo-legitimate leader of the anti-American resistance
- we have damn near bankrupted ourselves on security & defense
- we have turned the world against us with our impetuous nature
- we have rallied previously moderate muslims around the world into becoming militant islamic extremists.

Great job Fuckwad W - unless, this is what you wanted all along...

update for spelling...

[undeterred]

2. He's a leader of sorts

After reading transcripts of his tapes, I was really surprised to find that OBL is actually highly rational and calculating.
A lunatic makes no sense- he's not a lunatic.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[undeterred]

4. Well, thanks for making that rational argument

Very nice to meet you too.

[Deja Q]

6. You can have an IQ of 500 and STILL be a lunatic.

Or is calculated slaughter of innocents no longer deemed crazy?

The guy's a nut. Maybe I'm just not as kosher with the vernacular as you are... But to settle this petty bickering once and for all:

Definition of "lunatic":

"The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48"
Lunatic Lu"na*tic, a. F. lunatique, L. lunaticus, fr. luna
the moon. See Lunar.
1. Affected by lunacy; insane; mad; crazy; demented.
1913 Webster

Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic.
--Wyclif
(Matt. xvii.
15).
1913 Webster

2. Of or pertaining to, or suitable for, an insane person;
evincing lunacy; as, lunatic gibberish; a lunatic asylum.
1913 Webster

"The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48"
Lunatic Lu"na*tic, n.
A person affected by lunacy; an insane person, esp. one who
has lucid intervals; a madman; a person of unsound mind.
1913 Webster

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet,
Are of imagination all compact. --Shak.
1913 Webster


OBL definitely fits in there.

[undeterred]

7. I think he's perfectly sane

No doubt he is a horrible, evil, morally corrupt person. But he's quite rational and coherent.

[CJCRANE]

9. He's more like an international gangster n/t

[CJCRANE]

8. I read it too.

He's the enemy, but he's a rational enemy, that's what the freepers don't understand. With their blind hatred they fall right into his trap. And the biggest loser is the American taxpayer as their future prosperity is bled dry into the sands of Iraq.

[bluestateguy]

5. He'll always have enough support to make a lot of problems

Even if only 10% of Pakistanis support him that is still like 20 million people, enough of whom would be willing to suit up for Al Qaeda to cause us real problems.