Does Osama Bin Laden Frighten You?

[Havok]

Due to some of the comments in this thread, I was wondering if Osama Bin Laden actually does frighten you? Or any terrorist or terrorist organization.

Personally, I have no fear of the man or his organization. I, however live on the west coast of the U.S. and the attack on N.Y. was about as real to me as a movie. I have no friends there, no family, no connection. I have not been anywhere near any sort of terrorist attack, unless you count street and biker gangs, which I personally don't.

I was going to make this a poll, but I wanted to see if I got more explanation one way or another this way, over just a "yes" or a "no".

[K. A. Pital]

No, I don't fear OBL.

I do fear the kind of people he commands though.

[Dartzap]

Nope, no fear of him here, no more than I have of Martin McGuiness or Jerry Adams, anyway.

[Resinence]

I don't fear him. But I have a healthy respect for what his followers are capable of if they really want to cause terror. And definitely would not antagonize him or his followers if given the chance. However I have never experienced or had a relative experience a terror attack, if I had, I might be afraid of him and his followers, and I can understand why the victims and people living in areas that have been attacked would be.

And frankly, thanks to the republican party, I'm sure OBL considers 9/11 a huge success. Large freedoms were taken from the american people by their own government because of it.

[Ohma]

Not Bin Laden himself, he's just this guy you know? What fear I do have of him is more in the abstract. I find his ideology frightening in part because I know that part of me really is susceptible to the same extreme tribalism and ignorance that propagates it and others like it (well that and it's one of many ideologies that are opposed to me as a person...though thinking about that just tends to depress me rather than frighten me).

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Not really, insomuch as the idea of random terrorist attacks doesn't really bother me--it's just something that happens.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

No, not really. I can mentally and emotionally accept that the chance of him or his followers having any direct bearing on my safety is about as close to nil as you can get.

On the other hand, I do have a healthy dose of, if not outright fear, then at least wariness about the ignorant religious fucktards, stupidly abusive psuedo-chavs, and drunken asshole frat-tards that infest this portion of the country. They have a much more direct impact on my safety and security, and have proven to be detrimental to my well being multiple times in the past.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Well, I just operate under the assumption that everyone is out to kill me. Considering that I'm 17 times more likely to be murdered than the average American, this isn't unreasonable. It does make me a chronic paranoiac, but then, I'm not dead yet, eh? I can certainly see why someone would have good cause to fixate on closer threats. Since you can't really do anything to prevent terrorism, that one is about as random as some guy driving 100mph on a rural country road in the wrong lane heading straight for you with his lights off, in the fog.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

Well, I just operate under the assumption that everyone is out to kill me. Considering that I'm 17 times more likely to be murdered than the average American, this isn't unreasonable. It does make me a chronic paranoiac, but then, I'm not dead yet, eh? I can certainly see why someone would have good cause to fixate on closer threats. Since you can't really do anything to prevent terrorism, that one is about as random as some guy driving 100mph on a rural country road in the wrong lane heading straight for you with his lights off, in the fog.

Question: Is the 17 times more likely figure just for people who have actually gone through the transgender procedure (hormones, surgery, etc.), or just those who are public with their gender-identity issues? I mean, I already know from experience that I'm much more likely to garner negative attention for my habitual crossdressing, but I'm curious to know what the statistical likelihood of me being offed for my habits and psychology is.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Well, I just operate under the assumption that everyone is out to kill me. Considering that I'm 17 times more likely to be murdered than the average American, this isn't unreasonable. It does make me a chronic paranoiac, but then, I'm not dead yet, eh? I can certainly see why someone would have good cause to fixate on closer threats. Since you can't really do anything to prevent terrorism, that one is about as random as some guy driving 100mph on a rural country road in the wrong lane heading straight for you with his lights off, in the fog.

Question: Is the 17 times more likely figure just for people who have actually gone through the transgender procedure (hormones, surgery, etc.), or just those who are public with their gender-identity issues? I mean, I already know from experience that I'm much more likely to garner negative attention for my habitual crossdressing, but I'm curious to know what the statistical likelihood of me being offed for my habits and psychology is.

Babe, you're more vulnerable than I am. The figure is for transgenders and transvestites, and the distinction between crossdressers and transvestites is motivation, not result. It's hard to define the exact boundaries, but I suspect you're well within them from how out you are about dressing and so on.

This is the reason why I had my face cut to pieces with a bone-saw and reassembled using titanium plating--as a realistic rather than statistical matter, I have nothing to fear anymore whatsoever because only a police officer looking at my ID could possibly out me at this point, and the worst he's going to do is book me for prostitution at 2 PM in the afternoon in the upscale financial district when I'm modestly dressed and carrying around an attache case loaded with planform drawings, since even most outright police brutality against transwomen is directed against sex workers and blacks (There ARE people worse off than I am).

As a general rule, yes, you are 17 times more likely to get murdered than the average American if you are out crossdressing in public, in short, and what I was trying to elaborate on--if you're familiar with "passing privilege", as less fortunate transwomen tend to call it (I consider it being sane and successful, but, I can be an aristocratic bitch), well, exclude everyone with that from the category, since people obviously have to notice there's something wrong about you to break out the knives (murders of transwomen predominantly involve knives or blunt objects, so don't worry to much about getting shot). If you don't have passing privilege? Then, yes, you're 17 times more likely to be murdered than the average American, in realistic terms, that really is the case. And that applies for transwomen who can't pass and transvestites alike--all the people who are beating you to death with metal baseball bats will notice is that you're a queer in a skirt who is threatening their masculinity. And then they kill you.

[The Spartan]

Not really.

The 9/11 attacks managed to kill about 1/100000th of the population (on a countrywide scale) and are unlikely to be repeated in my home town.

Al Qaeda et al. are snakes in the grass. I have a healthy respect for them and would prefer to avoid them, but I don't really fear them per se.

[PeZook]

I'm more afraid of an unpredictable idiot screaming down a road limited to 40 kmph at 100 kmph than of a random terrorist attack.

Random violent crime and idiot drivers are far more threatening than suicide bombers, unless you live in a place like Israel.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Osama? Nope, not at all. However, the guys he pissed off; that's a totally different (and vastly bigger) can of worms.

[wautd]

I'm more afraid of christian fundamentalism in the States. You know, insane people with actual voting power in the worlds largest superpower.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I'm more afraid of my government's incompetence than of Bin Laden and his merry band.

[White Haven]

Fear is a temporary condition intended to produce strong reactions in the face of threat. Fear is NOT a condition of life. In general terms, no, I do not fear that particular vermin. Were he in the room, pointing a man-portable airliner at me, yes, I'd be afraid. As for what I DO feel, I'd like to feel contempt, but I'm not that stupid; Osama isn't impotent, and underestimating someone is a surefire way to get kicked in the balls. In the absence of contempt or fear, there's definitely some anger, but more just a desire to turn the corner, see his head on pike, and do the little Vir Cotto finger-wave, rather than the venom and bile required to actually do the deed myself.

[Kanastrous]

As a threat to my personal safety, OBL is somewhere near the very bottom of my list. Automobile drivers are a much more immediate and omnipresent threat to my life and health.

As a threat to the nation, our own domestic "leadership" has done far, far more damage in semi-response to OBL's handiwork, than OBL's people managed to do, or are likely to do, until they get hold of a useable nuke.

My wife took her citizenship oath in July of 2002. I looked around the stadium, took in the size of the crowd, and realized that on that single day, we were swearing in as citizens more people than we lost on 9/11...

AQ and Pals are a real threat, and waking up to hear that what's left of OBL is being flown to Langley in a cooler would be nice. But I don't lose sleep over his being out there, somewhere, as an individual.

[Frank Hipper]

No, he doesn't.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Random violent crime and idiot drivers are far more threatening than suicide bombers, unless you live in a place like Israel.

Well, I'm more afriad of idiot drivers, or crashing into someone . (As well)

[Maxentius]

Being a New Yorker, I don't fear the man personally, but I fear what he has the potential to accomplish. Thankfully -- quite thankfully -- I didn't lose anyone close to me on 9/11, but the mere thought that such an act could occur again, and I could, is quite frightening.

It's not something that crosses my mind with any regularity, though.

[FedRebel]

Osama? Nope, not at all. However, the guys he pissed off; that's a totally different (and vastly bigger) can of worms.

Two corrupt politicians 'scare' you? They come a dime a dozen

What is "scary" is the patience and restraint that the US has shown in the war on terror. Sure it went a little 'batshit' by attacking Iraq but lets have a brief look at the old resume...

In the US Civil War the US Army torched the cities of Atlanta and Savanna Georgia and Columbia South Carolina and left a swath of destruction in between.

In WW2 the USAAF firebombed ~64 Japanese cities and nuked two additional cities as a coup de grace

In the Vietnam War the USAF strategically bombed Hanoi for three days straight.

You know now that I think about it a spoiled brat Arab destroying two buildings and damaging a third has be shaking in my boots [/sarcasm]

[Singular Intellect]

He doesn't frighten me one bit.

If he and I crossed paths with him intent on harming me, I'd actually be less frightened of him than I would most any other person, because I would be extremely comfortable using lethal force to stop him.

As to terrorism in general, it hasn't affected me directly so I don't think about it much. (knock on wood, given my little brother is in Afghanistan)

[Guardsman Bass]

No, I don't fear Bin Laden. He's the titular head of a group that hasn't been able to pull off a successful attack in the US in nearly seven years, and the first attack was in large part due to monumental incompetence in dealing with the attack warnings. Aside from that, he's just another dangerous, fanatical Islamic jackass in the mountains of Pakistan.

[General Zod]

I have more to fear from the homeless bums downtown than I do from random Muslim terrorist <x> in random shithole-stan.

[Zixinus]

I admit that he does a little: whatever you may say, he is a devoted and powerful leader, trained and capable. Sure, most governments have done worse then he did in his entire organization, but he is turning desperate people to his side with religion and the conservative hatred of the West. Desperate young men with a cause they believe in can lead to some quite frightening things, as they have.

I say this with being an Eastern European and someone who is unlikely to be ever affected by anti-west terrorism. He sure as hell doesn't give me nightmares, but if I saw him and his gang walk down the street I would not be in the best peace of mind.