CaracticusPotts
09-28-2001, 03:50 PM
I don't actually believe these, but I have an overactive imagination and have been known to spin a yarn now and then.
So let's say these events never really happened, but are events in my head bantering around as I lay out an espionage novel.
My suicide terrorists left behind a wide paper trail which has led to Bin Laden. Sure, they had no reason not to since they were going to be dead anyway and had no risk of capture. But it would have been easy to leave little or no trail and protect their leaders. For one, they didn't need to rent cars ... especially not leaving a rental car at the airport with a flight manual in the back seat. Might as well have left a flashing red light on the top of the car or called CNN on a cellphone from the cockpit. They could have ridden in Greyhound buses and paid cash for the tickets.
So if the paper trail is a false lead pointing to Bin Laden, who has the most to gain?
1) The CIA. Their budget has been falling since the end of the cold war. An attack like this on U.S. soil will bring them plenty of money and show a public who are suspicious of them that they serve a needed purpose.
However, I'm throwing this one out because it's been done many times in other novels and at least one movie.
2) Saddam Hussein. Predicting a "knee-jerk" reaction by the U.S. Quick missile attacks on known terrorist camps ... most likely in Afghanistan, Hussein could jump up and rally the Islamic nations by demonstrating that we are a threat to all of them.
Too boring. People are tired of hearing about Iraq.
3) The Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. They've been fighting a losing battle against the Taliban for the last seven years. By making the U.S. think Afghanistan is the enemy, they get the aid of the largest military force in the world and are in perfect position to step in and take over once we pound the Taliban into history. This is kind of supported by the Northern Alliance attack on Kabul just hours after the WTC attack. An attack which was shown on CNN via videophone and initially assumed to be a U.S. response to the WTC attack. Their leader was against this plan, which is why he was assassinated a week before the WTC attack.
4). Gary Condit. ;)
So let's say these events never really happened, but are events in my head bantering around as I lay out an espionage novel.
My suicide terrorists left behind a wide paper trail which has led to Bin Laden. Sure, they had no reason not to since they were going to be dead anyway and had no risk of capture. But it would have been easy to leave little or no trail and protect their leaders. For one, they didn't need to rent cars ... especially not leaving a rental car at the airport with a flight manual in the back seat. Might as well have left a flashing red light on the top of the car or called CNN on a cellphone from the cockpit. They could have ridden in Greyhound buses and paid cash for the tickets.
So if the paper trail is a false lead pointing to Bin Laden, who has the most to gain?
1) The CIA. Their budget has been falling since the end of the cold war. An attack like this on U.S. soil will bring them plenty of money and show a public who are suspicious of them that they serve a needed purpose.
However, I'm throwing this one out because it's been done many times in other novels and at least one movie.
2) Saddam Hussein. Predicting a "knee-jerk" reaction by the U.S. Quick missile attacks on known terrorist camps ... most likely in Afghanistan, Hussein could jump up and rally the Islamic nations by demonstrating that we are a threat to all of them.
Too boring. People are tired of hearing about Iraq.
3) The Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. They've been fighting a losing battle against the Taliban for the last seven years. By making the U.S. think Afghanistan is the enemy, they get the aid of the largest military force in the world and are in perfect position to step in and take over once we pound the Taliban into history. This is kind of supported by the Northern Alliance attack on Kabul just hours after the WTC attack. An attack which was shown on CNN via videophone and initially assumed to be a U.S. response to the WTC attack. Their leader was against this plan, which is why he was assassinated a week before the WTC attack.
4). Gary Condit. ;)