History UsefulNotes / OsamaBinLaden

* AffablyEvil: [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/khadr/alqaedafamily3.html No, really.]]

* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Whatever you think of him, one does have to commend the man for giving up a life of luxury and probably a cushy non-job at a multibillion dollar construction company to pursue his principles in the caves and mountains of Afghanistan. That said, his principles are rather scary and [[{{Understatement}} misguided]] at best.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: He does have a point about US (and general Western) foreign policy, and many people in the Arab world are sympathetic. His use of terror tactics makes sense when his opponents have access to a trillion dollar high-tech (verging on ClarkesThirdLaw at times) weapons arsenal and he doesn't.

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]; bombing only two buildings is nothing compared to the shit [[AcceptablePoliticalTarget American foreign policy]] caused in the Arab, and the Islamic world, in general.

* CutLexLuthorACheck: Osama Bin Laden's net worth is estimated to be in excess of $300 million dollars. This is both from his inheritance, as well as from investing his inheritance wisely.

Immediately following said World Trade Center attacks, his position in media became that of a target of an almost-propaganda-type-level of scorn and mockery, almost all of which, although [[{{Understatement}} quite justified]], were undeniably crude in nature. Following said initial outburst, when it became clear that he would not be so easily captured or killed, he fit into more of a WorthyOpponent role against America (though mainly for his perceived deviousness rather than any sense of respect shared between adversaries): a constant threat not to be underestimated. Soon, with America's interests focused to different countries, the main mention of his name came from the political DeadpanSnarker reminding people that the man had still not been brought to justice.

** AcceptablePoliticalTargets Well, that's what you get for being an international mass murdering terrorist
** AcceptableReligiousTargets: He is an Islamic [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]], after all

** [[OneSideOfTheStory Media mostly covers the American POV of Osama.]] [[JerkassHasAPoint Here is his side of the story]]: "...when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As [[ThisExplainsSoMuch I watched]] [[{{Irony}} the destroyed towers in Lebanon]], [[TheDogBitesBack it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women]]."
** One [[YourMilageMayVary ''very'']] alternative interpretation: {{Troll}} (he sometimes criticizes the U.S./the West on topics like GlobalWarming just because it ''will'' make people mad; see other listings here for proof enough).

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: See DeadpanSnarker

** I hate to admit it, but.. that's ActuallyPrettyFunny.
** [[StrawmanHasAPoint Well, he does have a point.]] He wants to make it clear that he is fighting against imperialism, not against liberal democracy.

** It is probably a TropeCodifier.

** Then again, Al-Qaeda is far less a threat to the United States than the Soviet Union.
** It's still debatable how much U.S. aid helped him during the Soviet War. People tend to forget this old man who hid in thousands of caves ''built'' those caves with the aid of a 300 million dollar inheritance and over 4 million dollars of construction equipment he borrowed from his older brothers.

* WellIntentionedExtremist
** This might [[YourMileageMayVary depend on what you can consider as "well intentioned"]]. If he has no compunctions against killing innocent people, then imagine him in power with a standing army in his service. Then again, he does tap into the resentment that many Muslims have of being dominated by various Western powers for nearly two centuries, and as such, many Muslims would see him (or used to; he's apparently dropped in popularity lately) as more of an AntiHero.
*** He was also against the Saddam Hussein and Soviet regimes because of their cruelty, but that does not change the fact that "removing US forces from the Middle East" is not a real good intention[[hottip:*: well, not as far as the US is concerned, the people living in the middle east find that their mileage varies on this one]]. They don't really do anything that could be considered bad. It definitely does not justify mass murder.
** Part of the reason he got such a large inheritance from his father, despite being the last of 27 sons (not counting daughters) was that he was easily the most religious member of the family, a family mind you that owned the biggest construction company in Saudi Arabia and had close connections to King Fahd. While the family was fairly secular, with many sons going on wild adventures in Europe in their spare time, Osama helped their public image and gained them the support of many Islamic clerics (mostly because Osama gave those clerics a lot of money). The disowning part came when Osama started going off the deep end into radicalism after the Afghan War.

* There was a "Bin Laden in a Blender" web site on ''TheSimpsons''.
** Implied in one episode (where Homer and Marge met each other as kids) that he was Homer's pen pal.

* Osama is the only guy the H-{{Doujinshi}} ''Viva Freedom'' who doesn't get to have sex. (And serve him right!)
** Specifically, his men kill him for interrupting their orgy.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: He does have a point about US (and general Western) foreign policy, and many people in the Arab world are sympathetic. His use of terror tactics makes sense when his opponents have access to a trillion dollar weapons arsenal and he doesn't.

*** He was also against the Saddam Hussein and Soviet regimes because of their cruelty, but that does not change the fact that "removing US forces from the Middle East" is not a real good intention. They don't really do anything that could be considered bad. It definitely does not justify mass murder.

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[Inverted]]; bombing only two buildings is nothing compared to the shit [[AcceptablePoliticalTarget American foreign policy]] caused in the Arab, and the Islamic world, in general.

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[{{Inverted}}]]; bombing only two buildings is nothing compared to the shit [[AcceptablePoliticalTarget American foreign policy]] caused in the Arab, and the Islamic world, in general.

** One ''very'' alternative interpretation: {{Troll}} (he sometimes criticizes the U.S./the West on topics like GlobalWarming just because it ''will'' make people mad; see other listings here for proof enough).

** [[StrawmanHasAPoint Well, he does have a point.]] He wants to make it clear that he is fighting against imperialism, not against liberal democracy (even if he is against it).
* DarkMessiah
* DeadAllAlong Some believe that he has been dead for a long time and nobody knows.

** [[OneSideOfTheStory Media mostly covers the American POV of Osama.]] [[JerkassHasAPoint Here is his side of the story]]: "...when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As [[ThisExplainsSoMuch I watched]] [[Irony the destroyed towers in Lebanon]], [[TheDogBitesBack it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women]]."

** [[OneSideOfTheStory Media mostly covers the American POV of Osama.]] [[JerkassHasAPoint Here is his side of the story]]: "...when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As [[ThatExplainsAlot I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon]], [[TheDogBitesBack it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women]]."

** [[OneSideOfTheStory Media mostly covers the American POV of Osama.]] [[JerkassHasAPoint Here is his side of the story]]: "...when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As [[ThisExplainsAlot I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon]], [[Revenge it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women]]."

** [[OneSideOfTheStory Media mostly covers the American POV of Osama.]] [[JerkassHasAPoint Here is his side of the story]]: "...when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women."

** [[OneSideOfTheStory Media mostly covers the American POV of Osama.]] [[JerkassHasAPointHere This is his side of the story]]: "...when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women."

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Numerous, be it as a Muslim [[LaResistance freedom fighter]] against [[AcceptablePoliticalTargets American injustices, crimes, and terrorizations in the middle east or [[TheManBehindTheMan as a mere patsy of a conspiracy]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Numerous, be it as a Muslim [[LaResistance freedom fighter]] against [[Acceptable American injustices, crimes, and terrorizations in the middle east or [[TheManBehindTheMan as a mere patsy of a conspiracy]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Numerous, be it as a Muslim [[LaResistance freedom fighter]] or [[TheManBehindTheMan as a mere patsy of a conspiracy]].

* The movie {{Osama}}--the first film to come out of Afghanistan since the Taliban banned films in 1996--is actually not about ''that'' Osama. [[OrIsIt Well, not ''explicitly'' about him]].

* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: ''EncyclopediaDramatica'' notes that “he is the world's reigning hide-and-seek champion.”
* CompleteMonster: One of many interpretations. It is now pretty much the general consensus, even among the most radical Muslims, mostly due to the fact that he targets civilian targets.

* A controversial series in PearlsBeforeSwine had Osama hiding out in TheFamilyCircus universe. Set in a 50's type universe, the have no idea who he is.

* MiddleEasternCoalition: He and his organization desire to restore the medieval Islamic caliphate to it's former glory.

*EliteMooks: [[http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/02/al_qaedas_paramilita.php These guys]].