This has been inspired by the somali al-shabab assasination thread in chat.
It has been often noted when discussing 9/11 and the series of events which lead to that horrible day that the US had several near misses during the late 90's when they tried to assasinate Osama Bin Laden. Although it is not clearly stated, it seems often implied that if any of these attempts had succeeded that 9/11 would have been prevented. However it has occurred to me that simply killing Binladen is not enough to completely avert 9/11 or a similar attack. So what short and long term effects would successfully killing Osama Bin Laden have had on Al Queda, the Taliban, and the world at large? Would the US still have suffered a major terrorist attack at the turn of the century?
It has been often noted when discussing 9/11 and the series of events which lead to that horrible day that the US had several near misses during the late 90's when they tried to assasinate Osama Bin Laden. Although it is not clearly stated, it seems often implied that if any of these attempts had succeeded that 9/11 would have been prevented. However it has occurred to me that simply killing Binladen is not enough to completely avert 9/11 or a similar attack. So what short and long term effects would successfully killing Osama Bin Laden have had on Al Queda, the Taliban, and the world at large? Would the US still have suffered a major terrorist attack at the turn of the century?