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    I Don't Believe Osama bin Laden Wanted His Kids in America

    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
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    COMMENTARY | Osama bin Laden is dead and gone, killed during a raid by Navy SEALs. Now we're hearing second-hand reports the deceased terrorist mastermind wanted his children to live a different and better life -- in America, no less -- according to an AFP report. I find this hard to believe.

    Zakaria al-Sadah, the brother of one of bin Laden's wives, made this claim after meeting with his sister under the watchful eye of guards. It seems unlikely bin Laden, after years of planning terrorist attacks, would be overcome with remorse and tell his children to take a different path.

    If he was plagued by so much guilt, perhaps he could have skipped planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He might have surrendered to American forces. He might have stopped sending out taped statements urging other jihadists to continue attacking The Great Satan.

    That's not what happened, though.

    He still planned the 9/11 massacre. He still exhorted his followers to commit more acts of violence. He hid from justice for years in his cave, avoiding consequences that might have meant imprisonment. These are not the acts of a man filled with contrition.

    To hear it said bin Laden wanted his kids to come to America, go to college and live a life of peace is shocking.

    In case no one taught him basic etiquette here is a lesson: Killing 3,000 people in an inferno of blazing jet fuel really doesn't help your kid's college application form. Admissions counselors might frown on that part of an applicant's family history, especially if the child wanted to major in something like chemistry.

    What I think we are seeing is an attempt by the surviving family to distance itself from the horrific legacy of the dead terrorist leader. That's an understandable motivation, but unless some evidence proving bin Laden wanted his kids to come to America surfaces, I'll file the story under "really unlikely."

     
    • Caplicki Law  •  3 mths ago
      NO! They cannot come here. We do not want them. Stay away.
    • Ron Paul or Bust!  •  Tel Aviv, Israel  •  3 mths ago
      Will Yahoo publish the verbal diarrhea of any fool????????
      • TWO11 3 mths ago
        Yes. They will and do...
      • oz 3 mths ago
        They proved it with you.
      • A Yahoo! User 3 mths ago
        how when he's is right?
    • Dan  •  3 mths ago
      What would really be great would be for other extremist Islamists who have declared Jihad to believe this and lay down their weapons and seek peace with the USA!! And since most of them come from oil rich nations, maybe they can do as we Americans have done after every war we have won, they can help to pay our bills and rebuild what they have destroyed!!
    • Orlando R  •  New York, New York  •  3 mths ago
      Don't believe everything you read, is all I can say. Stay alert, educate yourself. Live and love within your means!...?
    • John  •  3 mths ago
      I believe that bin Laden would have wanted better for his kids. What father doesn't? Clearly, he was a hypocrite. Either way, this news story plays to our advantage. Maybe the Islamic monkeys will finally realize they are being used as cannon fodder and pull away from Jihad.
      • ASU Boy 3 mths ago
        yeah away from jihad and into pornography, teen pregnancies and pot.. the pretty much normal stuff compared to jihad.
      • John 3 mths ago
        Why does it have to be the extreme?
    • rosefluo  •  3 mths ago
      PATHETIC LIAR, YOU ARE ALL THE SAME COWARD ! Send other children to blow themselves up and raise them in the most despicable tradition of hatred but when it comes to their children the west is good enough
    • George  •  Dayton, Ohio  •  3 mths ago
      Where is the evidence for your belief? This is just empty hot air from another talking head.
      • Annette 3 mths ago
        It's an opinion piece and he gave his reasons for his opinion. If you're not interested in people's opinions, then don't read their articles.
      • nineball 3 mths ago
        Yahoo considers this more than opinion, Annette. From the masthead: "where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites". Perspectives go beyond mere opinions lacking any empirical support.
    • Jeff  •  3 mths ago
      Muslim extremists constantly knock the west for alcohol and porn, and yet are so often found using both. Is it any surprise that he would say this? A bunch of his family was already living here pre-9/11 but they had no connection to him at all.
    • D  •  Dallas, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      Yahoo needs to title all "articles" by this writer, "Things I Think of While Taking A Siht"
    • Dr. M. Alphonse IV  •  3 mths ago
      It's un-American to attach the past of the father to the future of the child.
    • Just Me  •  3 mths ago
      His family must think all Americans are stupid. If they really are trying to smooth things over with us, then just admit Osama did wrong, but you want to try to mend fences.
    • Alok  •  New York, New York  •  3 mths ago
      I think it is plausible. The man hated America and all infidels and wanted to reestablished a Caliphate but at the same expressed admiration and a desire to have certain modern technologies such as earth-moving machines, weapons, and genetically modified plants. He liked what we had but hated us.

      And apparently while living in Pakistan his family would buy lots of Coca Cola. Whats more American than Coke.
    • JUDE  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 mths ago
      Mute point, pricks dead.
    • Chris  •  Sunnyvale, California  •  3 mths ago
      Yeah, the whole "I want my kids to go to college in America or Europe" sounds like an attempt to make Bin Laden seem a little less hateful than he really was. Too bad the guy can't be questioned about this from the grave, he would repudiate it all.
    • Juh  •  Encino, California  •  3 mths ago
      Osama Bin Laden's brothers attended our finest universities, of course they are saying they want that for their nieces and nephews.
    • Connor  •  Chico, California  •  3 mths ago
      You know what I would like to know? Where in the Quran does it say go kill 3,000 innocent people and you'll get 72 virgins and go to heaven?
    • Joey JoJo Shabadoo  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  3 mths ago
      Judging by his actions on 9 11, Osama wanted nothing but the worst for the USA.
    • I'm listening  •  3 mths ago
      Are all conservatives so lacking in intellect as to take this at face value? You don't even believe your president is from the US, how the hell can you latch onto this so readily?
    • chickadee  •  3 mths ago
      I don't find it hard to believe bin Laden would advocate using American schools, the 9-11 terrorists attended our flight schools, didn't they? And what they did with that education brought a lot of "peace" to the extremists.

      Really terrible commentary by the way. Very poor writing skills. What's up with this crap?
    • Whatever.  •  Canal Winchester, Ohio  •  3 mths ago
      While I myself have doubts about the authenticity about the report, if he did want them to go to school in America, it was not out of remorse. He simply is just like all other nutcases: a hipocrite. Just because he wanted to distroy did not mean he did not want to take advantage of our benefits. Look at the hijackers, they all learned to fly right here in America.
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