A terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden? Any Islamic militant group that does not already have a name familiar to Westerners?
A boogeyman? A fairy tale? A phantom? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda -------------------------snip What exactly al-Qaeda is, or was, remains in dispute. Author and journalist Adam Curtis <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Curtis> argues that the idea of al-Qaeda as a formal organization is primarily an American invention. Curtis contends the name "al-Qaeda" was first brought to the attention of the public in the 2001 trial of bin Laden and the four men accused of the 1998 US embassy bombings <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_US_embassy_bombings>in East Africa: The reality was that bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri had become the focus of a loose association of disillusioned Islamist militants who were attracted by the new strategy. But there was no organization. These were militants who mostly planned their own operations and looked to bin Laden for funding and assistance. He was not their commander. There is also no evidence that bin Laden used the term "al-Qaeda" to refer to the name of a group until after September 11 attacks, when he realized that this was the term the Americans had given it.[50]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda#cite_note-The_Power_of_Nightmares-50> As a matter of law, the US Department of Justice<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice>needed to show that bin Laden was the leader of a criminal organization in order to charge him *in absentia*<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_in_absentia>under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_Act>, also known as the RICO statutes. The name of the organization and details of its structure were provided in the testimony of Jamal al-Fadl<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_al-Fadl>, who said he was a founding member of the organization and a former employee of bin Laden.[51] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda#cite_note-51>Questions about the reliability of al-Fadl's testimony have been raised by a number of sources because of his history of dishonesty, and because he was delivering it as part of a plea bargain<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plea_bargain>agreement after being convicted of conspiring to attack U.S. military establishments.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda#cite_note-first_informant-39>
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