Byzantium's Shores: chronicling the misadventures of an overalls-clad hippie

After September 11, I kept wondering why Osama Bin Laden selected the targets that he did, and why he seems to have been particularly fascinated with the World Trade Center. As horrific as that day was, it seems to me that he had far more in mind than mere body count; had that been his goal and nothing else, he could have scheduled his attacks for September 9 -- a Sunday -- and targetted NFL stadiums that were full to capacity.

While searching the archives at Slate Magazine, I happened upon this article that suggests just such a reason for Bin Laden's apparent obsession with the WTC. It might not be that the buildings were to him symbolic of a decadent culture at odds with his own warped interpretation of Islamic tenets; the buildings themselves -- as physical artifacts -- may have been offensive to him because of a family connection to the WTC's main architect and the WTC's implementation of Islamic architectural styles. Scary stuff.