(Yosri Fouda is the Chief Investigative Correspondent and Former London Bureau Chief for Al-Jazeera).
This is also true. But there is a difference between ‘select’ and ‘invent’. Atta, who in my opinion epitomizes the heart of a very frustrated Arab/Muslim street, was already there for the taking. If bin Laden did not select him, somebody else would have. Atta himself – like many of today’s terrorists and wannabes – had the capacity for self-selection. Luckily for him, he did not need it when there was this Qandahar vast umbrella “ready for the taking”. And in that sense, I believe it was the other way round; it was actually Atta who selected bin Laden. It is to the Attas that most of our attention should go first and foremost, I believe, without ignoring Peter’s point about leadership.
— Yosri Fouda
This week long terrorism salon will continue to be hosted by The Washington Note and UN Dispatch.
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