Steve Coll Explores Bin Ladens

Forum Introduction

		In his book "The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century," Steve Coll chronicles the lives and fortunes of the family from which Osama bin Laden came. He answers your questions here.

Are the Bushes linked to the bin Ladens? Why were bin Laden family members flown out of the U.S. after 9/11?

What happened to Osama bin Laden's older brother?

If Osama bin Laden removes the U.S. from Saudi Arabia, etc., can he create the new caliphate in this modern world?

How could Osama bin Laden's father have the influence you allege given his death when the child was but 9 years old?

How do you feel the U.S. entry into the Gulf War affected our relations with Arab countries?

How many of the bin Ladens' other 53 children of Mohammed have joined or support Osama?

What is, in your view, Osama bin Laden's ultimate goal?

You describe how the bin Ladens changed during the 1980s. What were the rest of us typically doing?


	Russell I. of Garden City, N.Y., asks:

	How do you feel the U.S. entry into the Gulf War affected our relations with Arab countries? Why were we not viewed more positively for trying to prevent the overrun of Arab nations by Saddam?

Steve Coll responds:

It's a mixed picture. Kuwaitis welcomed the liberation, obviously. Many Saudis were grateful for having their independence reserved -- but also resentful and questioning about why it was necessary to have outsiders do the job when their own government had been buying so many weapons and enjoyed high oil revenues. Radicals like Osama and his crowd saw the intervention as proof of American designs on Saudi oil wealth.



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