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Osama bin Laden wants the United States to convert to Islam, ditch its constitution, abolish banks, imprison homosexuals and sign the Kyoto climate treaty.
The first complete collection of the Saudi's statements published last week portrays a world in which Islam's enemies will take the first steps toward salvation by embracing the "religion of all the prophets."
"Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden" is billed as the first accurate compendium of the terrorist leader's words, threats and ruminations from 1994 to 2004.
Its editors have rooted out many statements they identified as forgeries and retranslated to correct "horrendous" errors.
Bin Laden's terms for America's surrender appeared after the September 2001 suicide attacks and include demands that amount to the abandonment of much of Western life.
Alcoholic drink and gambling would be barred, and there would be an end to women's photos in newspapers or advertising.

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I recall having repeatedly posted, over some years, that one of bin-Laden's demands in order for al-Qaeda to stop attacking the U.S., is that the U.S. to convert to Islam; and that bin-Laden's grievances/goals/demands are primarily religious in nature, going much further than merely relating to U.S. troops leaving Saudi Arabia and the ceasing of US support for Israel. Those are significant tactical goals indeed, but are not the raison d^etre for al-Qaeda, nor for other Greater Jihadists. Their aims are far higher, in the metagame sense.

Some posters have argued that al-Qaeda's goals are not all that unreasonable, and that al-Qaeda would likely leave us alone if only we would leave Saudi Arabia and cease supporting Israel. But as I have observed repeatedly, all you have to do is listen to them in their own words to know that there is much more to all of this than mere demands for such tactical concessions.

This is a religious war, first and foremost, promulgated by extreme fanatics. Their supreme goal is nothing less than forcibly converting every nation on Earth to their brand of Islam and bringing all of humanity to bow under rigid Islamic law, starting with the Middle East and spreading outwards, after they have re-established the Caliphate. Nothing short of death will dissuade these fanatics from prosecuting this undertaking to the fullest extent that their powers may allow.

The Greater Jihadists are not foes that may be reasoned or negotiated with. Now that bin-Laden's words have been collected and painstakingly transcribed, hopefully more will come to realize the essential nature of this foe.