Al-Qaeda has taken credit for the lame-ass suicide bombing attempt of Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Would you respect them any less if they didn't?

I dont respect them as is.

I can’t respect them any less. And I don’t think they did it.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir:
You mean Al-Qaeda BS’s and lies to us.
:-D

@Civic_Cat yes

They should be respected only once !! at their funerals by uttering : May God have mercy on their wretched souls !

@ Pretty Lily:

Maybe they’ll meet the 72 Virginians.

(my other question)

:-D

I don’t even care enough to evaluate my level of respect about it.

Who is this Al guy everyone keeps talking about. He seems pretty unpopular to me. Did it make the networks. ~

I agree with you all, I could not respect them any less than I already do.

You might not like Al-Qaeda. (I don’t.) You might not support Al-Qaeda. (I sure as hell don’t!) You might want to crush Al-Qaeda so that they never rise again. (Sounds good to me!) That said, I think it’s a bad idea to not have respect for an adversary. I mean this in the same way that I would have respect for a rattlesnake in my path or a charging bull – to be wary, to know that it holds great danger. Americans often do not think that an enemy deserves respect, which is why so many wars open with Americans taking a bloodbath.

I already had a pretty solid idea that Al-Qaeda is dangerous. I would not think they were less dangerous, though, if they had not claimed responsibility for the failed attack. I simply hope that our soldiers are more dangerous, finish the job, and come home.

@laureth

I suppose I will in time read the Wikipedia article about it .

While I appreciate the sobriety you bring into my question, I don’t quite aggree with your assessment.

Indeed, there are those who question the very existence of this entity beyond a loosely knit group—far from the “bunkers in Afghanistan” myth Rumsfeld was attempting to feed us.

911, in my view, was one big sucker punch. It wasn’t the first time a big plane hit a sky scraper in NYC. . Here’s Howard Roark defending his blowing up some other buildings in NYC .
:-D

I believe that the US, particularly the Bushites, promote the idea of the (very) dangerous Al-Qaeda as it justifies a number of their actions and that only a very powerful enemy could have inflicted so much harm. Al-Qaeda also has an interest in this: as it makes them look Baaaaaaaadass.

The reality is, their actions have diminished—not so much because of the War on Terrorism, but rather people are employing modest, but solid, increses in security, and otherwise wising up.

Most of the carnage in Iraq and Afghanistan, or for that matter Chechna, is indigenous.

At first Osama said nothing, as if 911 was the mysterious Islamic Heavenly Wind, the Kamikaze, the Will of Allah.

Then Osama started talking.

Then he started to attach conditions.

“Come on you evil Americans. Get out of the Mid-East. Huh? Can ya. Please? It’s a matter of honour. I have friends. They look up to me. Please. Pleeeaaasseess???”

I consider humour to be a good weapon too.

Btw, here’s a cute conspiracist video: 9/11 Lessons From Star Trek
:-D

You’re right on many counts, @Civic_Cat – but I do think it’s a mistake to underestimate them (or anyone else, for that matter.)

@laureth
Swartzkopf said as much, and yes, without being paranoid, he’s right.
:-D

Respect? Where does respect for Al Queda come into it? No one in their right mind would respect people who commit such heinous crimes with or without them claiming responsibility for yet another heinous attempt to take innocent lives.

It’s highly doubtful that I could respect Al Queda or any religious fundamentalists any less than I do right now, bur I’m equally sure they’ll find a way to make it so.

Al-fucking-Queda and respect don’t exist in the same breath.

Al-Qaeda is a violent fundamentalist organization. I would no more respect them than the Westboro Baptist protesters, or the KKK.