Your only knowledge of the existence of 'al-qaeda' is from what the people that brief the news men have chosen to tell you. For instance, there was a stand off between India and Pakistan during the glory days of The War Against Terror where it was alleged that there was 'al-qaeda' in between the two countries causing the trouble and that Uncle Sam could fix it. Obviously there were also the fake terror warnings where it could be red or orange depending on what random rubbish had been told to the media that day. Then there are independence movements in Africa where it is too complicated so 'al-qaeda' gets 'affiliated' so the story is explained that way. Then there is the actual creation myth of 'al-qaeda', wasn't it made up on the testimony of one unreliable witness in a New York court room? Wasn't there motive for inventing 'al-qaeda' in trying to prosecute Osama bin Laden under RICO laws, for which some organisation needed to be invented? Or did I imagine that?
I think you need to be checking primary sources for this 'al-qaeda' and doing some checking of facts, 'inclined to believe' is fine if it is a religion, but history is not a religion.
I had no idea this was contentious, but it really does seem it is. Robin Cook, a former UK Minister who I had immense respect for due to his stepping down over the invasion of Iraq, had this to say shortly before his death:
> Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by Western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians. [0]
As you imply you know of some, could you give some pointers for primary sources surrounding this?
I think you need to be checking primary sources for this 'al-qaeda' and doing some checking of facts, 'inclined to believe' is fine if it is a religion, but history is not a religion.