If that's the case why not comply and then go somewhere like Somalia where Al Qaeda actually does have a decent sized base?
Because they were looking for their leaders and information of any other targets in the planning. Somalia could have been a secondary war. But your first target is the origination point, and the location of many of Al Qaeda's top operatives.
What's more crippling to a movement, having the movement's leader sold out and killed, or having everything the leader's ever said about his enemies proven right when they invade the homelands of and kill thousands of civillians?
Thing is you don't care about how those that will follow Al Qaeda would perceive you. If you begin to dance around the use of force against a enemy in fear that it will strength your movement, you should give up. Yes going to war with Al Qaeda temporarily strengthen it, but that is what you get with any war. That raise in power was drastically offset by the amount of training ground in Afghanistan they lost, and the many many top level officials that they lost. If you want proof look at how many of Bin Laden's top Lieutenants, several of whom orchestrated major terror attacks against the US, have been captured or killed.
Hell just a month or so since after the war in Afghanistan started, Bin Laden's military chief, a man involved in the US Embassy bombings in 98, and planning the September 11th terrorist attacks, was killed.
As for killing thousands of civilians if you want to act as if the lives of civilians in Afghanistan mean ANYTHING to you, then you should be cheerleading the war to go in there. Because the lives and pain caused by the war pale in comparison to the amount of lives taken and the pure hell that the Taliban put the people of Afghanistan through.
I suppose gross incompetence is a possibility here, biut I find it self-evident that SOMEONE there knew what they were doing on at least some level.
Or of course you just do not have any understanding as to how important Afghanistan was. Which in reality is much more logical of a scenario.
As for whether bin Laden did it or not, I don't know and don't care. It's in the past. What matters is what effects 9/11 has had and what it's been used to justify.
Thats true, although in this day and age you would have to be pretty insane to not know that Bin Laden did do it.