In reply to:

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A very interesting point was made by a politician on the radio in the UK; Bin Laden was *funded* by George W's father when he was
fighting the communists in afghanistan - only then he was called a "freedom fighter".

The difference between "terrorist" and "freedom fighter" obviously depends on if they're doing your dirty work for you, or are
senselessly killing innocent people.

I was rather shocked by that nugget; I'm assuming it was true. Anyone else know the history?

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BBC News also mentioned Bin Laden's history in slightly more detail:

<URL:http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/world/south_asia/newsid_155000/155236.stm>

As an aside, the commonality we have here such that waaay off-topic stuff like this is acceptable is a sure sign that a newsgroup/list/bbs has crossed from a simple information exchange to a real community. That is what sold me an empeg. (Well, that and the technical capabilities, and the expansion potential, and ...)

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Toby Speight - 040103385