Does al-Qaeda exist?

[JohnLocke]

Poll question: Does al-Qaeda exist?

Does a group of Islamist terrorists known as al-Qaeda (also known as Qa‘idat al-Jihad, Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places, World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders and Islamic Salvation Foundation) exist?

ON EDIT: Most people know where I stand on this, but just in case you don't -- I belive that al-Qaeda exists and those who don't believe that are lunatics.

Please explain your answer. I'm especially interested in what those who are voting 'no' or 'unsure/undecided' have to say.

[mopinko]

1. it probably does but

you can't put anything past these criminals.

[Emboldened Chimp]

2. My roommate is from Algeria, is Muslem and..

....lived in Saudi for a number of years. I've asked him this very question and he confirmed that they do indeed exist.

On edit: no, he is not a member of AQ.

[Doug Decker]

3. The real question is for whom do they work...

and why?

[number6]

11. yes .....

..for whom do they work...?

[Solly Mack]

16. I agree..they exist..but I want to know who they work for

and why. Who sponsors them. Who funds them. Who has used them for their own agenda.

[stellanoir]

4. AQ certainly does exist for. . .

Paul Johnson, the American engineer kidnapped by their representatives in Saudi Arabia this weekend. They said they would treat him just as the prisoners in Abu Graib were treated.

We gotta pray for this guy and his family. He must be going through unimaginable hell.

I agree though, that it is far more curious as to who funds them than it is to speculate as to whether or not they exist. Though I certainly appreciate the nature of the query.

Only by electing a President who is sensitive to the origins of this conflict, can we possibly resolve it. * has done more to incite more terrorism through his arrogant rhetoric and incompetance than any preceding President.

[progdonkey]

5. Yes, but...

I think it's safe to say that al-Qaeda exists, but its form has changed. It used to have the typical organizational structure, with bin Laden at the top and his lieutenants delegating funds to different cells. Now, it has become more of a movement.

This can be seen in the Madrid bombing, which it seems was carried out by an organization completely independent of al-Qaeda, but who invoked its name in their actions. Osama bin Laden is no longer the CEO of terror, but the icon; I believe this makes shrub's focus on Osama bin Laden (when he's not focusing on longtime al-Qaeda leader Saddam Hussein :puke:) all the worse.

If we actually capture bin Laden, it will have absolutely no positive effect on international terrorism; if anything, his followers would actually raise the level of violence against Americans.

[UGABrother]

12. I agree

Prior to Bush's bumbling in Iraq, al Qaeda was a small network of fanatics. Now it's an idea and a rallying cry for angry middle eastern men..
It's hard to overstate how badly Bush has mishandled events after 9-11. Invading a middle eastern country that had nothing to do with the attacks while thumbing our nose at the U.N. is about the stupidest thing our government could have done. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but it still makes me smack my forehead to think of it. The Bush administration's response to the threat of terrorism has been emotional and idealogical when what is needed is strategic focus and restraint.
Future president Kerry's legacy: The man who brought us back from the precipace.

[leyton]

17. Agreed, it has decentralized.

That's the only way it could operate, I think. It would be safer for them and opens up plenty of opportunities.

[kalian]

6. ABB....but....

people still believe this administration's "official explanations"
and "investigations" about 9/11... :eyes:

[Solly Mack]

19. I can still not believe Bush' explanation and still believe

Al Qaeda exist.

I can believe the September 11 th investigations are a farce...and still believe Al Qaeda exist.

Scapegoats must exist to use them. Even if they are our own country's invention.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. al Qaeda is the bastard child

of the CIA, Mossad and M15. They are currently owned and operated by the OSP neocons.

[Doug Decker]

8. Ding, ding, ding...

We have a winner!

Although the true answer is probably more complex than your post, I think you have certainly identified the most important nuggets.

Saudi Arabia's Royal Family is involved in some capacity, also, IMHO.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. It's easy to rile up people

when they're already pissed off.

I think a lot of these terrorist attacks are the result of 'seeds' planted by the covert ops guys.

[doni_georgia]

18. Double Decker

You got it. Where there's oil, there's usually money, and where there's money...

Mac in Ga

[durutti]

10. Yes, but it's been misunderstood.

It's really more of a movement than an organization (though some semblance of organization is certainly there), moreso currently than in the past.

[stavka]

13. Just like the Congregationalists exist...and Pistons Fan Clubs

Less tangible than even the Viet Cong or Polish Home Army. A group united in thought and occassionally in action.

Most of the 9/11 stuff does trace back to a common root - unlike stuff in SE Asia or now, Europe

[Mr.Green93]

14. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia

[Art_from_Ark]

24. And Emmanuel Goldstein's Brotherhood

is responsible for terrorist attacks throughout Oceania

[DieboldMustDie]

15. John O'Neil seemed to think so.

:shrug: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/ :shrug:

[TOhioLiberal]

22. Richard Clarke also seems to know...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743260244/qid=1087181102/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-2373467-8587369

I voted 'yes'

Trekkerlass

[gmaki]

20. I had to vote undecided

It exists of course to the extent that anything abstract can exist, but it is the same as a street gang. While there is a structure there are any number of other criminals who are loosely connected to the organization doing things "in it's name". Including "wannabes" who claim to be in the organization but aren't and then some that are "in" and claim they are not.

Of course it can never be pinned down who is and who isn't because they don't carry ID cards or any other manner of proving their membership in the so called organization.

So in a sense it does exist and in a sense it does not.

I think.

[lucky777]

21. Tied to Saudi factions?

The hijackers were AQ and they were mostly Saudi; bin Laden is Saudi; Bush classified and erased large parts of the congressional reports relating to Saudis, etc -- I gotta think that AQ is tied to the Saudis, perhaps some radical break off wing of the royal family. This is what Michael Moore suggests in Dude, Where's My Country?

I know one thing -- we are blaming this guy Al-Zakarwi (sp?) for every evil under the sun --- first he was dead, then he was missing a leg, then he was beheading Nick Berg, then we was behind another explosion.

[libhill]

23. Undecided -

even if such a group exists, I have my doubts about their involvement with 9/11. I still believe, and I will until I die, that 9/11 was a government Black Ops type deal. Bin Laden and al-Qaeda made convenient scapegoats, ala Oswald. There are just too many unanswered questions, and I don`t believe a damned thing the Bushies or the government say.

[AliceWonderland]

25. I don't know

I've heard far too many conflicting -- and at times, absurd -- accounts of this group's structure, membership, abilities and deeds. This is the problem for me: there's no coherent narrative as to what this organization actually is. At this point, there's so much nonsense out there, it's hard to know what's what. I would favour a rational, thorough criminal investigation to answer the question. In the meantime, it seems that whatever happens in the world is simply blamed on, or deemed part of, al Qa'eda.

[Warren DeMontague]

26. It's as real as

all the other cases of so-called CIA blowback.

[Minstrel Boy]

27. This is like asking "did Lee Harvey Oswald exist?"

and believing an answer in the affirmative closes the case of JFK's assassination.

Oswald existed, but what was he?

Al Qaeda exists, but what is it?

[JohnLocke]

28. Kick