Well what did they expect to happen when they crashed planes full of civilians into buildings full of civilians? And need I remind you that they chose planes destined for the West Coast which were loaded with jet fuel?
>Al Q probably viewed the victims as 'collateral damage', much as
>Washington does. It seems to me that they went after the symbols. If
>they really were set on casualties, it would have been simple enough,
>simpler, to crash the planes into the ground. It would seem
>elementary that anyone setting out to kill thousands or tens of
>thousands would have done that than go into the upper floors of the
>WTC or into the Pentagon.
The first thing to remember when trying to guess what Al Qaeda was thinking is their worldview or outlook. The victims were infidels in their minds, as are we. Infidels deserve to die from their point of view while Washington probably doesn't think that 'collateral damage' victims deserve it. So, the high body count - which would have been much higher had the Towers toppled over instead of coming straight down - is just icing on the cake. And by striking such high-profile symbols, they probably intended to put the fear of God into millions and if so they succeeded in large part. I would consider this central or intentional rather than collateral. This is not to minimize the suffering of the Afghans or the millions of other victims of Empire, I hasten to add since it appears de rigueur.
Looks like Saddam Hussein will be listed among Al Qaeda's 'collateral damage' - albeit indirectly collateral.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iraq-britain-dossier.html Blair Report to Link Hussein With Al Qaeda By REUTERS Filed at 8:01 a.m. ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A British newspaper said on Sunday Prime Minister Tony Blair's promised dossier on Iraq will reveal that Saddam Hussein trained some of Osama bin Laden's key lieutenants.
But government sources played down the prospect that the dossier, to be released before a parliamentary debate on September 24, would prove a clear link between Saddam and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, blamed by Washington for last year's September 11 attacks.
The Sunday Telegraph said a draft version of the dossier contains detailed information about how two leading alleged al Qaeda members, Abu Zubair and Rafid Fatah, underwent training in Iraq and are still linked to the Baghdad government.
It said Abu Zubair was an Iraqi intelligence officer trained in terrorism techniques against the Kurds in northern Iraq. Rafid Fatah also worked with him against the Kurds, the paper added.
They were then said to have joined ranks with bin Laden.
Blair's Downing Street office declined to comment on the report, but a British government source voiced skepticism. "I wouldn't go down that route,'' the source said.
The newspaper said the dossier is also expected to disclose that the Iraqi leader has rebuilt three plants to manufacture biological and chemical weapons.
Evidence was based on "worrying activity'' captured by U.S. satellite photographs, it said.
One security official quoted by the Sunday Telegraph said U.S. satellite photographs "clearly show very worrying activity of rebuilding work at these plants, which we already knew were being used for developing chemical and biological weapons. That is what Saddam is doing again.''
Peter