Osama Bin laden is a very controversial figure, and the United States government went from calling him a liberation hero to sending operatives to neutralize him with a grenade. Don’t read if this offends you. I am not promoting his ideas since they are based on radical islam and ideologically incompatible with my political ideas, but I will be discussing his legacy and why he is so controversial.
While I never advocate violence, it must be mentioned that Osama’s plan included sending a plane into the white house to destroy it. In the 2000’s this would be a great tragedy, but in modern times where liberalism has less of an ideological monopoly, I think there would be more diverse reactions to seeing the white house on fire or severely damaged by an explosion. Obviously we’re not criminals, but imagine that you are oppressed by the regime your entire life and suddenly some islamic terrorist sends a plane into the white house and causes a bunch of destruction. Are you sad? Are you going to lose any sleep? Do you care? What if it was even the Trump Tower? We even have a historical precedent for extremists attacking the white house since the rightists broke inside and flew the confederate flag in there. People weren’t sad, they were entertained.
While it’s obviously wrong to commit terrorism, the government continues to motivate it by continuing the existence of Israel. Obviously in the 2000’s the politicians were talking about how the situation was an attack on liberty and democracy, but nowadays that feels like pushing political beliefs onto us. The United States government needs to learn that just because someone attacked them doesn’t mean they’re good.
I did some research on radicalization the other day, and they said that the main factor in a person being radicalized is society refusing to acknowledge an injustice. Once I heard that, I had to wonder if society is doing this on purpose. The modern liberal society creates so much poverty and marginalization of various people and then refuses to acknowledge how they created such a situation. They have Gaza in ruins and blame Palestinians for their own genocide. They have all of us living in a society that makes us think we’re crazy for tracing our issues back to the policies and actions of the state. I have not been ignoring the elephant in the room that Bin Laden killed so many people, but I find that the government wants us to focus on the innocent people he killed rather than the people he was targeting that are arguably less innocent. Our politicians, the pentagon, and the zionist American government don’t want people to see Osama’s attacks as a consequence of their foreign policy, because that would lead us to stop thinking like good citizens of the regime. If you’re reading this from anywhere in the continental US, you are probably a marginalized person with injustices against you that society is unwilling to acknowledge, let alone improve the situation. Since injustice going unacknowledged is the prerequisite for radicalization, that means the majority of the working class population is ripe for it. That might be scary if you support the government, but exciting to some who realize the days of the US regime are numbered.
When Osama Bin Laden’s letter to America went viral with people realizing they have been living a lie, the regime censored it because it made people realize how their government makes them unsafe by engaging in endless violence and imperialism. Osama Bin Laden was an islamic terrorist and of course tried to preach to us, so I got a bit annoyed when he complained about intoxicants and tried to convert us like some unwanted missionary at the doorstep of our house. However, he is surprisingly progressive when it comes to Palestine and says some things that people need to hear that would be physically impossible for a US politician to say or even come close to acknowledging. When you live in a society that teaches you middle eastern people hate us “for our freedom” or that hating people is “Just a part of their culture” this eye opening caused many people in the US to realize that their entire lives were built on lies. Liberalism has no way to reconcile itself with the realities of US imperialism, so his letter exists as an exit point to the brainwashing and oversocialization put onto us by the regime.
I would encourage you to take a look at his letter, and let me know if Bin Laden was truly this cartoonishly evil stereotype hating America for no good reason. Especially during a time when Zionist genocide is visible all over social media, I’m sure you guys can provide an interesting answer to that question.
Let's read Osama bin Laden's letter to the United States. Some interesting points from it:
bin Laden believed that killing American civilians was justified because they vote for their politicians and paid taxes: "You may then dispute that all the above does not justify aggression against civilians, for crimes they did not commit and offenses in which they did not partake: (a) This argument contradicts your continuous repetition that America is the land of freedom, and its leaders in this world. Therefore, the American people are the ones who choose their government by way of their own free will; a choice which stems from their agreement to its policies. Thus the American people have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing, torture, punishment and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their Government and even to change it if they want. (b) The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack us and penetrate our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund the attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditure of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates."
The primary goal of bin Laden's attack on the World Trade Center was the conversion of America to Islam: "(Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you? (1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam."
The second reason for the attack was to end the separation of church and state in the US in favor of Islam. In the process, he wanted to eliminate tolerance of non-marital sex, gay rights and the use of drugs and alcohol: "(a) We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling's, and trading with interest. [...] (i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator."
Yeah, I'd call blowing up several buildings and murdering 3,000 innocent people to force their nation to adopt your religion "cartoonishly evil." And that's aside from his long history of violent actions in other areas.
If we look at the man himself and his radical ideology it's about forceful conversion of the western world to Islam since he is an Islamic terrorism, but as an anti-imperialist I want to bring focus the responsibility of the US government in providing training, weapons, and public support to Bin Laden as well as creating huge injustices around the world that cause people like Bin Laden to eventually become radicalized and engage in these kinds of attacks.
The oppression of Palestine also plays a role in hatred for America and Israel, even if people then use that hatred to support ideologies such as the one that Osama advocates. Studying how the US operates around the world, I do not agree with Osama Bin laden or his actions but it is easy to see how the US regime creates so many enemies for itself which calls into question their actions and motivations.
You asked if Osama bin Laden was cartoonishly evil, and I answered yes along with my reasons.
What I asked was "Is he really a cartoonishly evil stereotype" and I'm not asking if he was evil or not because he was, but I was more talking about how his hatred for America and his desire to do bad things to the US government did not come into existence randomly or out of nowhere. He did not just hate the west "For their freedom" but his susceptibility to be radicalized and indoctrinated into Islamic terrorism is because of the very real grievances inflicted upon the middle east. Your answer is right, but I think it's focusing too much on whether or not he was evil as opposed to the characterization we see in the west where the government takes no responsibility for their own contributions to the violence.
The racist stereotype of Arabic Muslims is that they'll kill you if you don't convert, so he fit that bill too. I'm pretty sure he and Al-Qaeda are primary reasons that stereotype exists.