As far as I can tell, there are two diametrically opposed groups of people who love to repeat this.
1) People who say that Al-Qaeda is a bogeyman that is used to justify any expense in the war on terror.
2) People who say that Al-Qaeda is a held up as a few bad apples when the problem is that all followers of Islam are terrorists.
I think they're both wrong. I'm curious: What exactly do you call the organization that bin Laden ran? I'd maybe buy arguments that this organization is not as pervasive or cohesive as they have been made out to be, but not that they never existed at all.
There was a short BBC documentary, and an intervview with a high rank officer who was telling that wherever they go there were no Al-Qaeda. Only few locals that were armed, no organization called Al-Qaeda. Maybe it was this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mztfFdpd1Rk
Also CIA Whistle Blower Susan Lindauer says that everyone knew that there is going to be false flag on before 9/11 but not exatly how. And she says that there were huge military transportain into near Afganistan befor 9/11, it was already been planned, she say.
As for Al-Qaeda, probably Bin Laden called himsef mujahdeen or somthing like that, but they are not international so big organization. I don't exacly remember but they were trying to establish Islamic republic or something like that in Afganistan. And I have no doupt that he was killed at the beggining of the war.
The name "Al-Qaeda" is nothing but propaganda. When someone is reffering to some organization in Somaila he should not call it Al-Qaeda, I think it is proper to call them "Islamit extremist form Somalia lead by XY".
Its become an umbrella term like mafia for organised crime. I'm surprised of a decade of its use in this fashion you still can't understand what people are referring to.
