Islam expert scott atran on what makes bin Laden’s message so effective

It is more than ten years since Osama bin Laden began issuing public statements. Now a compilation is being published which attempts to demythologise the man whose pronouncements - part Koranic scholarship, part messianic anti-imperialism - give Al-Qaeda its deadly purpose.

With its careful translations of Osama's musings, Messages to the World provides a welcome balance to the naive argument, spouted by western politicians, that he is nothing more than an amoral nihilist who abhors our sense of freedom.

How Osama's messages communicate to westerners is one thing: how they get through to young Muslims is another. What