Osama bin-Laden, terrorism and substance addiction
Osama bin-Laden, dead from an assault by a Navy Seal team inside Pakistan. Several weeks after 9-11, I was listening to late-night talk radio and, of course, the topic was 9-11. “Mr. KABC” was taking questions, to which he always gave his best answers. I called and was able to ask, “Mr. KABC, why do you think people become terrorists?” He went into a 5-minute psychological analysis, after which I asked, “Would you like to hear another theory?” He said sure, and I responded that addiction-fueled egomania is the most likely reason, especially for those at the top (remembering that alcoholics can be so charismatic and charming they can get people to follow them and do awful things). Host Doug McIntyre, host of the Red Eye Radio (beginning then at midnight) happened to have just shown up for work and he emphatically told Mr. KABC that I was on to something. McIntyre, a recovering alcoholic, got on the phone and promptly booked me for his show, which I was on in the middle of the night a few weeks later. I realized I had to write about this, which resulted in this piece on terrorism and bin Laden. The Thorburn Addiction Report (TAR) has featured several top stories on terrorism and its likely roots since then (see issue #s 4, 13, 24, 42 & 53). Unfortunately, I haven’t heard that anyone in the U.S. government has considered the possibility that I’m “on to something.”