Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)
The STL provides a ready-made set of common classes for C++, such as containers and associative arrays, that can be used with any built-in type and with any user-defined type that supports some elementary operations (such as copying and assignment). STL algorithms are independent of containers, which significantly reduces the complexity of the library.
The STL achieves its results through the use of templates. This approach provides compile-time polymorphism that is often more efficient than traditional run-time polymorphism. Modern C++ compilers are tuned to minimize any abstraction penalty arising from heavy use of the STL.
The STL was created as the first library of generic algorithms and data structures for C++, with four ideas in mind: generic programming, abstractness without loss of efficiency, the Von Neumann computation model, and value semantics.
Contents
Containers
The STL contains sequence containers and associative containers. The standard sequence containers include vector, deque, and list. The standard associative containers are set, multiset, map, and multimap. There are also container adaptors queue, priority_queue, and stack, that are containers with specific interface, using other containers as implementation.
a dynamic array, like C array (i.e., capable of random access) with the ability to resize itself automatically when inserting or erasing an object. Inserting and removing an element to/from back of the vector at the end takes amortized constant time. Inserting and erasing at the beginning or in the middle is linear in time.
A specialization for type bool exists, which optimizes for space by storing bool values as bits.
list
a doubly-linked list; elements are not stored in contiguous memory. Opposite performance from a vector. Slow lookup and access (linear time), but once a position has been found, quick insertion and deletion (constant time).
deque (double ended queue)
a vector with insertion/erase at the beginning or end in amortized constant time, however lacking some guarantees on iterator validity after altering the deque.
Container adaptors
queue
Provides FIFO queue interface in terms of push/pop/front/back operations.
Any sequence supporting operations front(), back(), push_back(), and pop_front() can be used to instantiate queue (e.g. list and deque).
priority_queue
Provides priority queue interface in terms of push/pop/top operations (the element with the highest priority is on top).
Any random-access sequence supporting operations front(), push_back(), and pop_front() can be used to instantiate priority_queue (e.g. vector and deque).
Elements should additionally support comparison (to determine which element has a higher priority and should be popped first).
stack
Provides LIFO stack interface in terms of push/pop/top operations (the last-inserted element is on top).
Any sequence supporting operations back(), push_back(), and pop_back() can be used to instantiate stack (e.g. vector, list, and deque).
Associative containers - unordered collections
set
a mathematical set; inserting/erasing elements in a set does not invalidate iterators pointing in the set. Provides set operations union, intersection, difference, symmetric difference and test of inclusion. Type of data must implement comparison operator < or custom comparator function must be specified. Implemented using a self-balancing binary search tree.
multiset
same as a set, but allows duplicate elements.
map
an associative array; allows mapping from one data item (a key) to another (a value). Type of key must implement comparison operator < or custom comparator function must be specified. Implemented using a self-balancing binary search tree.
multimap
same as a map, but allows duplicate keys.
hash_set
hash_multiset
hash_map
hash_multimap
similar to a set, multiset, map, or multimap, respectively, but implemented using a hash table; keys are not ordered, but a hash function must exist for the key type. These containers are not part of the C++ Standard Library, but are included in SGI's STL extensions, and are included in common libraries such as the GNU C++ Library in the __gnu_cxx namespace. These are scheduled to be added to the C++ standard as part of TR1, with the slightly different names of unordered_set, unordered_multiset, unordered_map and unordered_multimap.
Other types of containers
bitset
stores series of bits similar to a fixed-sized vector of bools. Implements bitwise operations and lacks iterators. Not a Sequence.
valarray
another C-like array like vector, but is designed for high speed numerics at the expense of some programming ease and general purpose use. It has many features that make it ideally suited for use with vector processors in traditional vector supercomputers and SIMD units in consumer-level scalar processors, and also ease vector mathematics programming even in scalar computers.
Iterators
The STL implements five different types of iterators. These are input iterators (which can only be used to read a sequence of values), output iterators (which can only be used to write a sequence of values), forward iterators (which can be read, written to, and move forward), bidirectional iterators (which are like forward iterators but can also move backwards) and random access iterators (which can move freely any number of steps in one operation).
It is possible to have bidirectional iterators act like random access iterators, as moving forward ten steps could be done by simply moving forward a step at a time a total of ten times. However, having distinct random access iterators offers efficiency advantages. For example, a vector would have a random access iterator, but a list only a bidirectional iterator.
Iterators are the major feature which allow the generality of the STL. For example, an algorithm to reverse a sequence can be implemented using bidirectional iterators, and then the same implementation can be used on lists, vectors and deques. User-created containers only have to provide an iterator which implements one of the 5 standard iterator interfaces, and all the algorithms provided in the STL can be used on the container.
This generality also comes at a price at times. For example, performing a search on an associative container such as a map or set can be much slower using iterators than by calling member functions offered by the container itself. This is because an associative container's methods can take advantage of knowledge of the internal structure, which is opaque to algorithms using iterators.
Algorithms
A large number of algorithms to perform operations such as searching and sorting are provided in the STL, each implemented to require a certain level of iterator (and therefore will work on any container which provides an interface by iterators).
Functors
The STL includes classes that overload the function operator (operator()). Classes that do this are called functors or function objects. They are useful for keeping and retrieving state information in functions passed into other functions. Regular function pointers can also be used as functors.
A particularly common type of functor is the predicate. For example, algorithms like find_if take a unary predicate that operates on the elements of a sequence. Algorithms like sort, partial_sort, nth_element and all sorted containers use a binary predicate which must provide a strict weak ordering, that is, it must behave like a membership test on a transitive, irreflexive and antisymmetric binary relation. If none is supplied, these algorithms and containers use less by default, which in turn calls the less-than-operator <.
Criticisms
Quality of compiler
The Quality of Implementation (QoI) of the C++ compiler has a large impact on usability of STL (and templated code in general):
Error messages involving templates tend to be very long and difficult to decipher. This problem has been considered so severe that a number of tools have been written which simplify and prettyprint STL-related error messages to make them more comprehensible.
Careless use of STL templates can lead to code bloat. This has been countered with special techniques within STL implementation (using void* containers internally) and by improving optimization techniques used by compilers.
Template instantiation tends to increase compilation time and memory usage (even by an order of magnitude). Until the compiler technology improves enough this problem can be only partially eliminated by very careful coding and avoiding certain idioms.
STL design issues
1. Design flaws due to limitations in the C++ language
Initialization of STL containers with constants within the source code is not as easy as data structures inherited from C (addressed in C++0x with initializer lists).
2. Perceived flaws due to the requirement to maximize speed and minimize space usage
STL containers are not intended to be used as base classes (their destructors are deliberately non-virtual); deriving from a container is a common mistake.
3. Other flaws, caused either by trade-offs in design or which have become more visible over time
The concept of iterators as implemented by STL can be difficult to understand at first: for example, if a value pointed to by the iterator is deleted, the iterator itself is then no longer valid. This is a common source of errors. Most implementations of the STL provide a debug mode which is slower but can locate such errors if used. However, at present no better replacement for iterators has been suggested and a similar problem exists in other languages, for example Java.
Certain iteration patterns do not map to the STL iterator model. For example, callback enumeration APIs cannot be made to fit the STL model without the use of coroutines, which are platform-dependent and/or unavailable, and are outside the C++ standard.
Compiler compliance does not guarantee that Allocator objects, used for memory management for containers, will work with state dependent behavior. For example, a portable library can't define an allocator type that will pull memory from different pools using different allocator objects of that type. (Meyers, p. 50)
The set of algorithms is not complete for example, the copy_if algorithm was left out by oversight (Stroustrup, p. 530) (added in C++0x: http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2008/n2666.pdf).
The interface of some containers (in particular string) is bloated (Sutter and Alexandrescu, p. 79); others are considered insufficient.
Hashing containers were left out of the original standard, but have been added in Technical Report 1, a recent extension to C++.
History
The architecture of STL is largely the creation of one person, Alexander Stepanov. In 1979 he began working out his initial ideas of generic programming and exploring their potential for revolutionizing software development. Although David Musser had developed and advocated some aspects of generic programming already by year 1971, it was limited to a rather specialized area of software development (computer algebra).
Stepanov recognized the full potential for generic programming and persuaded his then-colleagues at General Electric Research and Development (including, primarily, David Musser and Deepak Kapur) that generic programming should be pursued as a comprehensive basis for software development. At the time there was no real support in any programming language for generic programming.
The first major language to provide such support was Ada, with its generic units feature. By 1987 Stepanov and Musser had developed and published an Ada library for list processing that embodied the results of much of their research on generic programming. However, Ada had not achieved much acceptance outside the defense industry and C++ seemed more likely to become widely used and provide good support for generic programming even though the language was relatively immature. Another reason for turning to C++, which Stepanov recognized early on, was the C/C++ model of computation which allows very flexible access to storage via pointers is crucial to achieving generality without losing efficiency.
Much research and experimentation were needed, not just to develop individual components, but to develop an overall architecture for a component library based on generic programming. First at AT&T Bell Laboratories and later at Hewlett-Packard Research Labs, Stepanov experimented with many architectural and algorithm formulations, first in C and later in C++. Musser collaborated in this research and in 1992 Meng Lee joined Stepanov's project at HP and became a major contributor.
This work undoubtedly would have continued for some time being just a research project or at best would have resulted in an HP proprietary library if Andrew Koenig of Bell Labs had not become aware of the work and asked Stepanov to present the main ideas at a November 1993 meeting of the ANSI/ISO committee for C++ standardization. The committee's response was overwhelmingly favorable and led to a request from Koenig for a formal proposal in time for the March 1994 meeting. Despite the tremendous time pressure, Alex and Meng were able to produce a draft proposal that received preliminary approval at that meeting.
The committee had several requests for changes and extensions (some of them major), and a small group of committee members met with Stepanov and Lee to help work out the details. The requirements for the most significant extension (associative containers) had to be shown to be consistent by fully implementing them, a task Stepanov delegated to Musser. It would have been quite easy for the whole enterprise to spin out of control at this point, but again Stepanov and Lee met the challenge and produced a proposal that received final approval at the July 1994 ANSI/ISO committee meeting. (Additional details of this history can be found in Stevens.) Subsequently, the Stepanov and Lee document 17 was incorporated into the ANSI/ISO C++ draft standard (1, parts of clauses 17 through 27). It also influenced other parts of the C++ Standard Library, such as the string facilities, and some of the previously adopted standards in those areas were revised accordingly.
In spite of STL's success with the committee, there remained the question of how STL would make its way into actual availability and use. With the STL requirements part of the publicly available draft standard, compiler vendors and independent software library vendors could of course develop their own implementations and market them as separate products or as selling points for their other wares. One of the first edition's authors, Atul Saini, was among the first to recognize the commercial potential and began exploring it as a line of business for his company, Modena Software Incorporated, even before STL had been fully accepted by the committee.
The prospects for early widespread dissemination of STL were considerably improved with Hewlett-Packard's decision to make its implementation freely available on the Internet in August 1994. This implementation, developed by Stepanov, Lee, and Musser during the standardization process, became the basis of many implementations offered by compiler and library vendors today.
List of STL implementations
libstdc++ from gnu (was part of libg++)
STLPort, based on SGI STL
Rogue Wave standard library (HP, SGI, SunSoft, Siemens-Nixdorf)
Dinkum STL library by P.J. Plauger
Notes
^ Meyers, Scott (2005). Effective C++ Third Edition - 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Designs. Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-321-33487-6.
^ Sutter, Herb; Alexandrescu, Andrei (2004). C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices. Addison-Wesley.
See also
List of C++ template libraries
C++0x
Boost C++ Libraries
References
Alexander Stepanov and Meng Lee, The Standard Template Library. HP Laboratories Technical Report 95-11(R.1), November 14, 1995. (Revised version of A. A. Stepanov and M. Lee: The Standard Template Library, Technical Report X3J16/94-0095, WG21/N0482, ISO Programming Language C++ Project, May 1994.)
Alexander Stepanov (2007) (PDF). Notes on Programming. http://www.stepanovpapers.com/notes.pdf. Stepanov reflects about the design of the STL.
Nicolai M. Josuttis (2000). The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-37926-0.
Scott Meyers (2001). Effective STL: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Use of the Standard Template Library. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-74962-9.
Al Stevens (March 1995). "Al Stevens Interviews Alex Stepanov". Dr. Dobb's Journal. http://www.sgi.com/tech/stl/drdobbs-interview.html. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
Bjarne Stroustrup (2000). The C++ Programming Language (3rd ed.). Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-70073-5.
Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu (2005). C++ Coding Standards. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-321-11358-6.
David Vandevoorde and Nicolai M. Josuttis (2002). C++ Templates: The Complete Guide. Addison-Wesley Professional. ISBN 0-201-73484-2.
Matthew Wilson (February 2004). "Callback Enumeration APIs & the Input Iterator Concept". Dr. Dobb's Journal. http://www.ddj.com/cpp/184401766.
Atul Saini and David R. Musser, STL Tutorial and Reference Guide: C+ + Programming with the Standard Template Library. Foreword by Alexander Stepanov; [Copyright Modena Software Inc.] Addison-Wesley ISBN 0-201-63398-1
External links
STL programmer's guide official guide from SGI
STL Reference lists STL containers and their members
C/C++ reference includes a section on the STL
Apache (formerly Rogue Wave) C++ Standard Library Class Reference
Apache (formerly Rogue Wave) C++ Standard Library User Guide
Bjarne Stroustrup on The emergence of the STL (Page 5, Section 3.1)
STLPort, a very popular open-source implementation of the STL
Categories: C++ standard library | Generic programmingHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from September 2007 | All articles needing additional references | Wikipedia articles needing style editing from April 2008 | All articles needing style editing | Articles lacking in-text citations from April 2009 | All articles lacking in-text citations About the Author
technical writing certificate courses"technical writing certificate courses" Career Direction - Help!?
I am currently working as a technical writer who offers some graphical support from time to time. I have knowledge in graphic tools such as Photoshop and Flash. I have a minimal amount of knowledge of Flash Actionscripting (enough to get by with some interactivity besides the usual button-movie control).
My aptitude seems to be in writing. My graphics is ok but tends to lean towards what would appeal to kids perhaps. I would like to mix all of these "talents" into one career. Could anyone please point me in the right direction?
I am not a people person so please don't ask me to take up management in any form :) Just so, you know, I have completed my basic degree in Economics, a diploma in Journalism and a certificate course in Multimedia. I must point out that I have 8+ years experience and I have worked as graphic artist, instructional designer and technical writer. It's just that now I feel like I want to do something else with these talents and resources.
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such as: According to abortionfacts.com, one out of every three teenagers will have an abortion.
Would I need to underline the website, or do something else to it, or can I write the website in just like that? this is for a college in-class essay BTW
Just underline it, like you would with a book.
How to Create Web Pages Using HTML : How to Write an HTML Hyperlink
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Is it looked down upon such as creative writing is by many? (Personally, I don't look down on people's major choices/career being pursued, but you know how others are.)
What type of jobs could a major in technical/professional writing get me?
Absolutely not. It is a very sought after skill. I have 2 friends who make a great deal of money and have very flexible hours.
A Technical Writer with Extra Privileges? Responding to a Question about Roles
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I'm a writer, and I've been reading a lot of books about writing (mainly fiction/screenwriting, etc.) but I'm starting to believe that I am digesting (for lack of a better term) way too much information. It's like reading a bunch of technical prose on something that should be done from the heart.
Does anyone agree with this? Can reading too many reference and 'how-to' books become bad? Is the old adage "You learn to write by writing" true?
I totally know where you're coming from. I ALMOST asked this question a few days ago, but didn't because of something shiny I saw in the other room (or something... I don't know... SQUIRREL!)
So yeah, I was wondering the same thing. As I began a writing exercise, I questioned my intuition because of the writing books I've read. Then I wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Was I squashing my creativity? Or was I recognizing an area where I could improve?
I really don't know for sure. I strongly believe, though, that you learn to write by writing, but I've learned priceless stuff from various how-to books, that really help when I'm in a jam. As long as you're still writing, I think how-to books are okay, but they should be supplements, not replacements. But nothing should replace daily writing exercises or writing for your stories.
Hope that helps!
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I do work for Phillips Van Heusen Bangladesh Office. I want to write/publish an article about the violations happening here in Bangladesh and Hong Kong Office. I want this report to be published in most of the news papers in USA. Can anyone help me in this regard. I need urgent help.
Most newspapers have their own staff to write articles, and the only place where John Q. Public can submit something is in the paper's Opinion section: Letters to the Editor. Outside writers of opinion or viewpoint columns, called Op-Eds, are usually high-level executives, organization leaders, government officials or other major influencers.
My advice to you is, if you don't care about risking your job by coming forward about things happening at your company, then you should identify the right reporter who would normally cover your company's industry and then send them an e-mail about the situation.
If the reporter thinks it warrants looking into, then they may contact you for an interview. Just be warned, they will also contact the PVH corporate office, likely their PR person, who will do whatever they ethically can to protect the company's reputation.
Also, stories like this take time to produce. Lots of research and lots of interviews, so be patient before seeing anything in print. The flipside is that the reporter may not find enough "meat" to think that it's a story and not doing anything with it.
How to Write a News Story
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Useful Advices For Writing Clerical Resume Objectives
A clerk is a highly skilled person who performs clerical work. This job would require that you are good at typing, computer and communication skills in order to effectively carry out day-to-day operations. People at this post are basically employed in a public and private office, for keeping records or accounts. They conduct general office or some sort of sales tasks.
Nowadays clerical jobs are found in each and every organization. It is one of the highest growing fields in job market. If you wish to apply for this post then it is very necessary for you to understand the job description for this post. Some of the tasks and activities for this position are listed as under:
1. A clerk has to perform numerous responsible, confidential and routine administrative functions. They have to type and proofread reports, correspondence, forms, etc.
2. He or she performs a variety general and specific office functions and clerical duties of average difficulty and related work as required. He or she handles a lot of paperwork and incoming work requests.
3. They are liable for adding new material to file records, assigning stamp identification numbers or codes in order to index materials, creating new records, retrieving information from files, answering questions about records, eliminating outdated or unnecessary materials, modifying and improving file system.
4. They even help out public in researching information, answering and responding to phone inquires, organizing and maintaining files, preparing notices and documents.
5. They are also involved in scanning, faxing and filing documents.
A clerical resume objective is the first thing that a potential employer encounters regarding the job applicant. It must demonstrate the technical skills and credentials of the candidate. Writing a good curriculum vitae objective is very important for getting a decent job. So it is very essential for you to frame it nicely.
In this article, I would like to provide a sample curriculum vitae objective for this post.
I wish to secure a prestigious position within a company, where my professional experience, education and abilities stand as an advantage for personal growth. I can carry out the responsibilities efficiently by utilizing the progressive experience and sharpened skills. I would like to exploit my potential for amplifying the profit of the company and elevating the reputation of the organization.
Well, these are some of the important tips. I hope now you will not face any difficulty in writing an objective.
Great Technical Writing: How Small Companies Can Create Great User Documents
Overview
Your product needs User Documentation (manuals, instructions, etc), but your small company (20 to 100 employees) has no in-house staff to create that documentation. This article describes how to select and enable your "non-writer" employees to create Great User Documentation. You NEED Great User Documents
Your Product needs Great User Documents (Instruction Manuals, User Guides, Reference Manuals, Instruction Sheets, etc. ):
. Undocumented features become expensive flaws . All products have shortcomings; Great User Documents help your Users around these problems . Providing information beyond the minimum helps reduce technical support costs
Your Users deserve Great User Documents:
. To eliminate jumps in the documentation that the User cannot follow . To understand what the product will do and how it performs . To provide tips and knowledge to provide the best possible User experience
Great User Documentation will reduce support costs, increase User satisfaction, and increase your profit (fewer returns and more positive recommendations).
But You Have No Writing Staff
Yes you do! If you can find employees who are between projects, or want to take on additional responsibilities and acquire new skills, then these can be your writing staff.
However, you may be considering hiring an outside freelance writer. Perhaps that is a good choice. However, let me list some benefits of using in-house non-writers over freelance writers:
. Experience with the company (culture, management, style, physical plant) . Knowledge of the product, market, users . They may know the members of the design and development teams . Already set up with resources in your company (desk, phone, access to information resources) . Will be a resource you can use to upgrade or create new documentation . Will effectively employ someone who is between projects
Selecting Who Will Write
Ask your staff if they would like to write the User Document for a particular product:
. If you have any volunteers, then these are the employees you should consider to become your writers. . If you do not have any volunteers, then you might have to resort to coercion. Perhaps explain the benefits of writing versus other less-attractive busywork (or even temporary layoffs). . If necessary, assign someone or a group to the writing task.
Convincing Your New Writers
. Tell them that you will provide support, training, and time to do the writing. Make sure that you keep your promises. . Tell them that writing skills would benefit their career (communication skills are usually a benefit) . Variety will make their work more interesting . You will try to make this as no-risk as possible . Tell them that the Great User Document that they produce will benefit the product and the company (and them).
If they have other objections to the writing assignment, evaluate their objections, and determine if you have a reasonable argument to overcome their objections. If not, perhaps you had better find someone else for the writing project.
You Can Enable Non-Writers to Write
Most of your employees who have made it through an education system, and have been hired by your company, can probably write. They may be fearful of writing. I believe that if they can think clearly and explain something verbally to someone sitting next to them, then they can write Great User Documents.
To just thrust a writing assignment on the non-writer is unfair and will prove to be unproductive. You need to support the new writer.
How to Support Your New Writers
Training
. They need a complete method for writing. They need guidance on how to start, what tools they should use, and a method for producing great User Documents. . They need an effective organization for the User Document. They need to know what to include in the User Document and how to structure the document . They need an easy way to write the first drafts and how to revise them . They need a way to feel comfortable performing the previously stressful task of writing. Most people remember an adversarial relationship between themselves as writer and their reader (usually a teacher or critic). . They do NOT need grammar lessons. Hire an editor, and if cost-conscious, hire one from a university. See the editing article in the on the site listed in the "Resources" or "About the Author" section of this article.
Support:
. Access to the development and marketing teams; . Use of the development team to evaluate their writing (small chunks); . Access to the product, literature, marketing materials.
Resources:
. Style manual; . Editor; . Time to do a good job
The resource links in the "Resources" or "About the Author" section of this article will help your new writer get going.
Beware of Technical Lures
If your new writers come from your technical areas, they may want to spend time learning writing technology. They do not need it!
My point is not to spend the time learning new tools that might not benefit your company's situation. Let's look at the two popular lures:
1. Fancy Writing Software
Very few professional technical writers would use a word processor to create a large User Document. However, in all likelihood you will NOT be creating a mammoth User Document. Most likely your User Document will be less than 40 pages. A modern word processor (such as Microsoft Word, WordPerfect or Lotus WordPro, all are trademarks) will easily do the task.
2. Content Management System (CMS)
I believe that the documentation industry has incorrectly focused itself on Content Management Systems (CMS's). CMS's are reasonable tools for large companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Toyota who have huge numbers of documents. For smaller companies (like yours), CMS's are a diversion from the real task, which is "how to produce the User Documentation that your product needs and your Users deserve."
Aha! Your new writer might say that by writing in XML or by using a CMS he/she will be able to create the text in one format and easily produce that text in HTML, printed form, or as a PDF (Portable Document Format, used by the Adobe Reader). This is not a valid argument for your situation. Modern word processors have the capability of producing HTML documents, converting their output to PDF, as well as printing.
Another argument is that a CMS will enable writers to re-use content from one product to another. I believe that this argument is not relevant to companies with only a few products. While old-fashioned, a good library system and using cut and paste will suffice for the smaller company.
Instead, Focus On These
Rather than spending time learning new technology that may or may not help your writing project, your writers (in fact, all writers) should be focusing on what is important to the Users of your product. These are:
. Content: The material that you will provide in your User Document . Access to that Content: Enabling your Reader to easily find what he/she needs at the time, and to skip what is not needed
If your new writers do know how to use writing tools such as FrameMaker (tm) or a Content Management System (and one is set up) then of course they should use these tools. But everyone should remember that the Reader (the User of your product) only sees the content via the accessibility to that content. Don't let the technology get in the way of helping your Reader.
The Bottom Line
Most literate people, with reasonable support and resources, can be guided to create effective User Documentation. A good place to find resources is listed in the "Resources" or the "About the Author" section of this article.
About the Author
Barry Millman, Ph.D., has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Psychology. He has been a consultant for over 25 years, an instructor, course developer, and award-winning speaker. For the past seven years he has been researching and creating resources to help organizations create great User Documents.
writing audit reports"writing audit reports" Do auditors have to do a lot of writing?
Is it difficult writing? I consider difficult writing, such as writing a resume, cover letter, or school admission essay, to be just about the most grueling task imaginable. Other types of writing are very simple and require very little thought. For example, legal secretaries do a lot of writing but it is basically form letters that they do so repetitiously that it is very easy for them. My undergrad was in liberal arts so I certainly am capable of lengthy writing assignments but I always hated writing. I am now a grad student in accounting and trying to decide between audit and tax; I think I prefer audit but I am worried about the writing. I know they have to write audit reports, working papers, etc. Would this suck for someone who hates writing? Or, is it basically like writing form letters and requires very little thought? Thanks so much!!
I think I see what you mean. Writing compact bullets like a resume vs. writing in more narrative is very differernt.
I would say the writing you do in auditing is something in between.
Ryan Chittum Reports on the Rupert Murdoch Media Scandal in Britain 1 of 2
importance of technical writing"importance of technical writing"
The Importance of Technical Writers in a Software Company
Technical writing is not everyone's forte. It is a niche section that requires a very distinctive skill set which is a combination of good language skills and comprehensive technical acumen. An inclination towards writing and interest in the latest technologies in I.T. based environment are perfect ingredients that when churned out in a planned manner can bring out a good tech writer. In case you want to pursue a career which is somewhat different and at the same times keep you in the dynamic environment of software development then you can certainly go for the opportunities that various IT based organizations offer for the technical folks. There are a set of varied jobs which a technical writer may be required to perform. This may include preparation of installation documents, release notes for the clients, requirement analysis document, the request for proposal document and other guides etc. Every small implementation these days in a software company is well documented and recorded, thus making the job of a tech writer more complex and important. A tech writer has to closely work with the technical development team and also the business analyst group to deeply understand the processes and procedures. The better the understanding, better are the chances of good documentation. If you think if you possess all the necessary skills for being a Technical writer than you should definitely go in for this profile. So in the end I would conclude by saying that Technical writer in an I.T. domain is as important as a Developer, a Quality Analyst, Customer Support or Installer for that matter.
Technical writing is not everyone's forte. It is a niche section that requires a very distinctive skill set which is a combination of good language skills and comprehensive technical acumen. An inclination towards writing and interest in the latest technologies in I.T. based environment are perfect ingredients that when churned out in a planned manner can bring out a good tech writer.
In case you want to pursue a career which is somewhat different and at the same times keep you in the dynamic environment of software development then you can certainly go for the opportunities that various IT based organizations offer for the technical folks.
There are a set of varied jobs which a technical writer may be required to perform. This may include preparation of installation documents, release notes for the clients, requirement analysis document, the request for proposal document and other guides etc. Every small implementation these days in a software company is well documented and recorded, thus making the job of a tech writer more complex and important.
A tech writer has to closely work with the technical development team and also the business analyst group to deeply understand the processes and procedures.
The better the understanding, better are the chances of good documentation. If you think if you possess all the necessary skills for being a Technical writer than you should definitely go in for this profile.
So in the end I would conclude by saying that Technical writer in an I.T. domain is as important as a Developer, a Quality Analyst, Customer Support or Installer for that matter.
This is a reviewed copy since at initial posting we didn't put a link to our website yeboyesafrica.com. You may wish to visit us for more resourceful articles.
You want a quick guide to super-quick article drafting, you got the right guide.
Welcome!
I don’t doubt I’m offering a good resource for those who may want to start on article writing, it doesn’t matter what the purpose is. Those that already write articles can get to know a different approach to fulfilling the same goal. To authors, applying all or some of the information I shall give will leave your readers wanting some more of your articles.
The inspiration to write this article comes from a ‘status reporting template’ I adopted from a website I can’t recall or even identify today. When I first saw the template, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. I have used this template for many reports and it has proved to be extremely good. I know this from the reaction I always get from customers of my reports. This template has put me in good position with all project sponsors I have handled some work for. Each time any of the project sponsors responded to any of my excellent project status reports, I’d know exactly that it’s largely because of the professional layout of the report. One good thing about this template is that it guides the reporter to give a truthful picture of the project status.
Concept Transfer
How about writing equally good articles using a template? That is the question that has been bothering me for a long time. What if each time I write articles, they hit the mark right away like the project status reports. I knew I could develop a template that would fulfill that need.
My four years experience of publishing books and articles for local magazines has earned me the art of mastering attention catching articles. I now know what people are looking for in an article and the therefore the template will do just that.
Why articles? I guess there is reason behind that you got interested in this article. There are many reasons that one would want to write a winning article at the shortest time possible. I don’t know about you, but I often get rushed by a soon approaching deadline, yet I still wish to come up with a good article. This template is therefore a good tool to help authors write good articles in a short time.
I know that often times other authors would give the lengthy points on ‘brainstorming the topic’, ‘research the market’, ‘start with the summary’, etc. Yes, it is not wrong to follow all those processes. They probably work in certain circumstances but not when time is an issue of concern. Moreover, to me writing is only a part-time hobby. Then, when it comes to research, brainstorming topics and following all the other process, it turns out to be a nightmare. You may call my template the ‘Laziest method’ to writing good articles because all you’d need is time to come up with the topic and work from there. Yes, I can’t completely avoid some of the processes like researching on the topic (not researching on the market), coming up with an outline and reviewing my work.
The articles that we will be producing from the template are good for internet marketing, freelancing and reporting, not at all for academic purposes. This template will assist writers to develop relevant content within a short space of time. Articles produced using this template would definitely market the author’s capabilities to potential markets, particularly on the internet.
Please note that the template is not addressing any particular subject, but it is a general outline. So then, this template won’t do the thinking for you, you will still need to apply yourself a little bit to write your article.
The Template
Let’s go straight to the template.
Topic--You have to come up with a simple, relevant and catchy topic. Give a straight to the point topic. A topic like, ‘Preventing Child Abuse’ would be better than ‘Methods used to Prevent Child Abuse’.
Your topic could be followed by a short explanatory sentence. For our example topic, the short sentence could read as follows: ‘An outline of simple strategies that children can use to defend themselves’.
Content outline This is ignorable. You may or may not list the table of contents for your article. The table of contents may be ideal for either very long articles (+/-20, 000 words) or those with distinctive sub-topics.
Introduction--This is where you need to catch the interest of your readers. Include some or all of the following:
1. Brief outline of what will be covered
2. The motivating factor behind the selected topic, e.g. background and benefits. Go on to tell your readers why you think you are the right person to address the subject. It is important to tell the truth, if it’s because you’re simply interested in the subject, state so.
3. A brief statement on your credentials, experience and exposure.
4. What you have achieved from your experience. For example, if writing has improved you writing skills, mention it. It helps convince your readers that you know the subject very well.
Tackling the core Subject Matter--- 1. Address the subject attention areas that would define the gap between the uninformed and the knowledgeable. For example, if knowledge on the subject would help save some money, make it clear to your readers. This will help convince your readers to read to the end of the article.
2. Start with simple/general knowledge and gradually intensify the technicality of the subject. For example, you can first suggest a manual and later dwell on digital or more advance technological approach. State the expected challenges (pros and cons) in each case. This will create the link between the norm and the desired state to your readers.
Enriching the Body--- 1. At this stage, you can add technical information without reservations.
2. State a range of requirements and their options. For example, if a computer and a DeskJet are necessary, mention it.
3. Compare players in the market and promote good practice. List and emphasize on desired actions, taking a chronological approach to each stage.
4. Attempt to indirectly answer any questions you think your readers may have. E.g., if your readers are not sure why water paint is preferred to oil paint. Let them know that oil paint is flammable yet water paint is not.
5. Give supporting points to your confidence in the approach you recommend. You can suggest other options based on price and availability.
Conclusion---At this stage you have stated all your facts. You are ready to give recommendations. In your recommendations, you can refer your readers to either your other related products or resource elsewhere. You can visit my website at yeboyesafrica.com.
OK! Now what’s the next step: your assignment. If you follow this simple guide, you can definitely come up with a good article in the shortest time possible. Remember that ‘practice makes perfect’. The ball is in your court. Good luck!
About the Author
An author of five motivational books, a motivational speaker and businessman. Visit us at yeboyesafrica.com
Website Traffic : All about Web Traffic | How to get Free Traffic | Increase Traffic Guide
web reports"web reports" Do you know where to find free web analytics reports?
looking to find statistics for typical KPI metrics for ecommerce sites, industry averages (e.g. conversion rates by industry) to compare my site vs industry standards. Thanks!
google has one. sign up with them, https://www.google.com/analytics/
Good technical articles are challenging to write. They’re time-consuming, demanding to research and hard to organize. But they’re valuable weapons in the PR and marketing arsenal, and you need them.
If you can outsource the article, great. That’s what writers like me are here for. But if you can’t – or don’t want to -- then read and apply the tips below to save time and energy on research and writing, and come out with a much better product.
Get Ready
1. Review your resources – hard copy like books and articles, Web access, interview contact information.
2. Arrange for interviews if you need them, it always takes a while to track down the interviewees. Note: If you’re ghostwriting an article for a company, you may not have an interview past the initial meeting.
3. Make sure you know the following: a) the reader’s challenge, b) the key message relating to their challenge, and c) the type of reader you’re writing to.
4. Understand the main message the client want to communicate. Many technologies are similar, but your client will have a defined slant on their implementation. (If they don’t, they should – this is your chance to offer them your strategic message building services.)
5. Even “vendor-neutral” articles are written with a point of view – either the writer’s or the company the writer is working for. This is only a problem if the article bias makes for a misleading article, or tells a whopping big lie.
Outline
6. Never skip this step, for your own or your readers’ sakes. Outlines speed up your writing, and readers will follow your argument much better.
7. Organize your research into three themes. Some thematic organizations are obvious – for example, I wrote an article on three steps to optimizing your storage. In other articles, there may be several possibilities. There is probably no one right choice, so if two or three seem fine to you, just pick one and go with it.
8. Remember your junior high school/high school/college outline lessons? They apply. If you don’t remember your lessons, here’s a reminder: I. Introduction (Outline problem, introduce solution, state theme) II. Body A. 1st major point B. 2nd major point C. 3rd major point III. Conclusion (short case study/example, restate solution, concluding paragraph)
9. Put your outline on paper and let it guide you as you go. It’s not iron-clad – if a new organization presents itself while you’re writing you can change it – but don’t do it too much or you’ll defeat the outline’s purpose.
Writing the Rough Draft
10. Here’s the key to writing your rough draft: Just Do It. Write without thinking about it. Paste in random chunks of text from your research. Write some more. Write in any bizarre, random order. All you want to do at this point is get down large masses of information onto paper.
11. Keep going until you’ve got 2-3 times the words you actually need, then you can stop.
12. Once you have your mass of information on paper, you can organize it into your outline. No big deal – just cut and paste paragraphs under the points they best fit.
13. Now that you’ve slapped all of your rough text and research into your outline, guess what? The draft is done. Congratulate yourself and take a break.
Subsequent Drafts
14. Now it’s time to whip this rough mass into shape. Start by saving your rough draft under a different name. You’re going to be doing a lot of deletions in this stage, and you don’t want to accidentally delete something you meant to use.
15. Working with the new copy, start your edits. Paraphrase the notes you have from other sources -- memos, product briefs, other articles, brochures. (Journalists do it all the time. It’s called "research.")
16. I'll often download online research but mark it in a different color, so as not to commit the embarrassing – not to mention illegal -- mistake of repeating someone else's writing. When I’ve learned what I need to from the research, I capture the facts in my own words and delete the original notes.
17. Borrow freely from your client’s Website and other materials. Don’t repeat the text – that’s bad policy and bad writing – but you’re not going to be accused of plagiarism. Laziness maybe, but not plagiarism.
18. Music can be helpful on writing assignments. Personally, I like Vivaldi for drafting and movie scores for revising. Quite the combo. (As I write this sentence, The Last of the Mohicans is playing. Baroque is better for the draft stage.)
19. You might find that dictating works better for you at the rough draft stage. Probably not the old-fashioned kind, where the hard-bitten boss called in his trusty secretary to “Take a memo!” You’re more likely to use an application like Naturally Speaking. This type of application needs a lot of training beforehand – the application, not you – but can be very helpful for writers who try to critique themselves out the gate.
Writing the Final Draft
20. You’ve done the rough draft, 1st draft, and are into the 2nd draft. You’ve put everything in your own words and are observing your outline structure. The article is starting to sound less like something you’ll get blamed for, and more like something you might actually claim.
21. Edit for readability, grammar and style.
22. Use active voice in all your writing. “Active voice” is a sentence construction where the subject performs the verb action. Don’t go to sleep on me, this is important. Example: “The dog bit the boy.” Quick, active, easy. Here’s an example of passive voice: “The boy was bitten by the dog.” Yikes!
23. Technology writing is full of hideous passive voice construction. Here’s another example from a technology marketing document: “This successful vendor interoperability was demonstrated at the Summit in Chicago.” Ack! Instead, write: “Vendor teams successfully demonstrated interoperability at the Summit in Chicago.” See how easy that was? PLEASE use active voice. Everyone will be so much happier.
24. If you learn nothing else about business writing in all your born days, learn to write in active voice. Subject all of your sentences to this simple little exercise and you will improve your writing 100%.
25. Please don’t be boring, but don't get too cute. I will stick in something funny every once in a while -- mostly because I get a big kick out of myself -- but don’t get too chummy.
Final Draft
26. You’re almost there – you see light at the end of tunnel, and it isn’t a train. Now is the time to polish sentence structure and word choice, and punch up your paragraphs.
27. Polish your opening paragraphs. Add a snappy lead, define what you're talking about and why it's important, and list the three or so points you’re going to make.
28. Read through your article and make sure you’ve made those points. If you did an outline, the main points should already be subheads. (See why an outline is so great?)
29. Polish your conclusion. The conclusion doesn’t have to be undying prose, but do restate your points and conclusions.
30. Read through one more time for overall readability.
31. Run your spelling and grammar check.
32. Save and send – but be careful to send the right file! I accidentally turned in my rough draft once instead of the completed final. Luckily this was with one of my oldest clients, so they contacted me and asked me for the real article. A new client would simply have assumed complete incompetence on my part.
33. And for the final tip: everything gets easier with practice. Good thing, too.
Every coin has two sides – head and tail, similarly there are two kinds of people living in this world good and bad. Some become famous by doing good deeds and some through bad deeds.
There are different stages of Human Life Cycle and each needs to be understand as it present before us the different challenges that how the status of mind of the native changes under different circumstances and how he is able to handle those critical situations under different circumstances.
This is one such horoscope of a native who become famous in the world through his Bad deeds and is known by the name OSAMA BIN LADEN.
THIS HOROSCOPE HAS BEEN ANALYSED THROUGH DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES USED FOR ANALYSIS AND STUDYING OF TRANSIT OF JUPITER AND SATRUN, DIVISIONAL CHARTS, INTERLINKING CHARTS, SUDARSHAN CHAKRA, MAHA DASHA ETC.
IN THIS REPORT IMPACT AND ASPECT OF TRANSIT SATURN IS PRESENTED IN THE SIMPLEST FORM SO THAT THE COMMAN MAN CAN EASILY ABLE TO UNDERSTAND IT THROUGH THE HELP OF ASTROLOGY SOFTWARE.
FUNCTIONING OF TRANSIT OF SATURN AND JUPITER IN NATAL CHART IS DIFFERENT FROM EACH DIVISIONAL CHARTS AND SUDARSHAN CHAKRA (KCD) WHICH IS ALSO DIFFERENT FROM D9 X D10 INTERLINKING CHARTS.
INTERLINKING CHARTS, SUDARSHAN CHAKRA (KCD), NAKSHATRA AND DIVISIONAL CHARTS ARE USED FOR THE ANALYSIS AND THE STUDY OF THE EVENTS.
ANALYSIS IS PRESENTED IN THE BOLD AND UNDERLINE LETTERS.
Name – Osama Bin Laden
Date of Birth – 10 – 03 – 1957, Time of Birth – 10:58am, Place of Birth – Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
Profession – Every one Knows
Planet of Date of Birth – Sun
Planet of Time of Birth – Moon
Sun and Moon are the important parts of KCD.
For Taurus Lagna (Ascendant) of NatalChart
Benefic Planets – Mercury, Venus, and Saturn
Malefic Planets – Moon, Jupiter
Neutral Planets – Sun
Marak Planet– Mars
Badhak Planet – Saturn
Badhaksthana – 9th house (Capricorn)
Most Malefic Planet (MMP) – Jupiter
Western Astrological Particulars
Sun Sign (Western) – Pisces
Decanate – 2
Moon Sign (Western) – Cancer
Ascendant Sign (Western) – Gemini
Term Lord of Sun– Mercury
Term Lord of Moon – Mars
Term Exchange – None
Glimpse of His life through the support of astrological analysis mentioned below:
THE BEGINNINGS
Born in 1957 for Syrian mother, Osama bin Laden was the seventh son among fifty brothers and sisters.
BIN LADEN, THE FATHER
His father Mohammed Awad bin Laden came to the kingdom from Hadramout (South Yemen) sometime around 1930. The father started his life as a very poor laborer (porter in Jeddah port), to end up as owner of the biggest construction company in the kingdom. During the reign of King Saud, bin Laden the father became very close to the royal family when he took the risk of building King Saud's palaces much cheaper than the cheapest bid. He impressed King Saud with his performance but he also built good relations with other members of the royal family, especially Faisal. During the Saud-Faisal conflict in the early sixties, bin Laden the father had a big role in convincing King Saud to step down in favor of Faisal. After Saud's departure the treasury was empty and bin Laden was so supportive to King Faisal that he literally paid the civil servants' wages of the whole kingdom for six months. King Faisal then issued a decree that all construction projects should go to bin Laden. Indeed, he was appointed for a period as the minister of public works.
In 1969 the father took the task of rebuilding Al-Aqsa mosque after the fire incident. Interestingly the bin Laden family say that they have the credit of building all the three mosques, because later on their company took over the task of major extension in Mecca and Medina mosques.
The father was fairly devoted Muslim, very humble and generous. He was so proud of the bag he used when he was a porter that he kept it as a trophy in the main reception room in his palace. The father used to insist on his sons to go and manage some projects themselves.
The father had very dominating personality. He insisted to keep all his children in one premises. He had a tough discipline and observed all the children with strict religious and social code. He maintained a special daily program and obliged his children to follow. At the same time the father was entertaining with trips to the sea and desert. He dealt with his children as big men and demanded them to show confidence at young age. He was very keen not to show any difference in the treatment of his children. –Jupiter and Sun exchange their Nakshatra. Sun Significator of Father. In his chart Sun is in 10th house of deeds and 9th house of ancestors becomes the sign of Capricorn (Saturn – the lord of 9th house) giving indication of discipline life lead by the Father. In his chart Sun is the lord of 4th house (Family) and is placed in the 10th house of deeds. In Natural Zodiac Sun is the natural significator of 9thhouse + Saturn is significator of discipline thus giving the glimpse about the nature and disciplined life of his father and his love towards his children.
EARLY LIFE, SCHOOL AND MARRIAGE
Osama was exposed very early on his age to this experience but he lost his father when he was 13 –As per my system of calculation of Transit of Saturn. I have presented here the simplest form (instead of technical and complex form which I used for study) of Saturn transit. I observed that Transit Saturn was in the Lagna (Ascendant) with Mars when Osama lost his father. Transit Saturn in Taurus ascendant placed with its enemy Mars having its 10th aspect on the 10th house of deeds (Where Sun = Father is posited). Mars in the Natalchart having its 8th aspect on the house of death thus giving indication that Transit Saturn has activated the NatalMars through its aspect. The result is that Osama father died when he was 13 years of age.
He married at the age of 17 to a Syrian girl who was a relative. He grew up as religiously committed boy and the early marriage was another factor of protecting him from corruption –When he was 17 years of his age transit Saturn was in the 5th house of previous birth deeds thus after analysis of his previous birth deeds – Saturn activated the Natal Lord Jupiter + This transit Saturn through its 3rd aspect on the house of marriage activated this house + Transit Saturn having 7th aspect on the 11th house of fulfillment of desire + Through its 10th aspect on the 2nd house giving indication of an addition of a new member in the family through first marriage of the native + Lord Jupiter in the 5th house has its 9th aspect on the Lord Mars (Mars is the Lord of 7th house and Jupiter is the Natural significator of Marriage). Thus with help of Transit Saturn Osama married at the age of 17.
Osama had his primary, secondary and even university education in Jeddah. He had a degree in public administration 1981 from King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah. Countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Syria,Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sudan are the only countries he has been to. All stories of trips to Switzerland, Philippines, and London are all unfounded –In 1981 Transit Saturn in Natal Chart got debilitated in the 12th house of foreign countries + Transit Saturn in D – 24 chart was in Libra sign (10th house) with Lord Jupiter having 3rd aspect on the 12th house of foreign Countries + 7th aspect on the 4thhouse of education where Sun is placed in its exalted sign and 10th aspect on the 7th house of Sign Cancer (In natural Zodiac Cancer is the sign of family and education) where Rahu and Ketu is placed + Jupiter and Sun is natural significator of the subject Public Administration.
STRUCTURING HIS MENTALITY
In addition to the general Islamic commitment he started forming an Islamic responsibility at early age. His father used to host hundreds of pilgrims during Hajj season from all over the world. Some of those were senior Islamic scholars or leaders of Muslim movements. This habit went on even after his father's death through his elder brothers. He used to make good contacts and relations through those gatherings – Please note that 9th house is the house of Religious activity and its lord Saturn is the friend of Ascendant Lord Taurus + Sun being the natural significator of Father is placed in the 10th house (Aquarius Sign) and the lord of 10th house is Saturn thus giving indications of father and son relationships with each other is of positive attitude towards religious activities.
At secondary school and university he adopted the main trend of many educated Muslims at that time,Muslim Brotherhood. There was a collection of Muslim scholars in Jeddah and Mecca at that period. There was nothing extraordinary in his personality and that trend was rather very non-confrontational. Interestingly, the 1980 raid in the Grand Mosque in Mecca was not appealing to him, neither the theology nor that group. He had two distinguished teachers in Islamic studies, which was a compulsory subject in the university. First was Abdullah Azzam who became later as one of the big names in Afghanistan and the second was Mohammed Quttub, a famous Islamic writer and philosopher – In 1980 Transit Saturn was in the 11th house of guidelines of Religious court of Law having 3rd aspect on the Ascendant (House of Brain / Mind) + 5th aspect on the House of Previous deeds where Jupiter is placed thus through its aspect Jupiter gets activated and Jupiter 5th aspect over 9th house of Luck, Religion, Religious books etc. gets activated. Thus through Saturn and Jupiter aspects giving indications that his brain (Ascendant) starts activated to think and react on the critical issues. Please note that as per Law of Astrology (A new idea and concept in astrology which I am working write now) Jupiter opposition Saturn means they are giving official approval of certain activities to take place in the coming time following all the guidelines of religious court of law taken into consideration all his previous birth good and bad deeds.
Jupiter and Transit Saturn placement and aspect over houses giving indications of about the different areas of life cycle discussed and approved in respect of the different events to take place in the life of the native from time to time.
Jupiter being the malefic planet of Taurus Ascendant and the lord of the 8th house after analysis of his previous birth deeds and having aspect over Mars and Ascendant (Brain) and Mars being the Lord of 7th house of foreign partnerships and 12th house of foreign country thus giving indications that as per his bad deeds in the previous birth he will engaged in certain bad activities in foreign countries for which he will be held responsible for the death of the innocent lives.
AFGHANISTAN, THE FIRST ENCOUNTER
The first encounter with Afghanistan was as early as the first two weeks of Soviet invasion. He went toPakistan and was taken by his hosts Jamaat Islami from Karachi to Peshawar to see the refugees and meet some leaders. Some of those leaders like Rabbani and Sayyaf were common faces to him because he met them during Hajj gatherings that trip which was [a] secret trip lasted for almost a month and was an exploratory rather than action trip. He went back to the kingdom and started lobbying with his brothers, relatives and friends at the school to support the mujahedeen. He succeeded in collecting huge amount of money and material as donations to jihad. He made another trip to take this material. He took with him few Pakistanis and Afghanis who were working in bin Laden Company for more than ten years. Again, he did not stay more than a month the trip was to Pakistan and the border only and was not to Afghanistan.
He went on collecting money and going in short trips once or twice a year until 1982 – Thus his Major activity period starts when Saturn was in the 11th house (1980). Please not that Placement of negative Mars in the negative sign Taurus in Ascendant (Brain) and having aspect of Transit Saturn giving indication of about the crucial activities undertaken by the Osama.
INSIDE, AFGHANISTAN
In 1982 he decided to go inside Afghanistan. He brought with him plenty of the construction machinery and put them at the disposal of the mujahedeen. He started spending more and more time in Afghanistanoccasionally joining actual battles but not in an organized manner. His presence was encouraging to more Saudis to come but the numbers were still small at that period. – In 1982 Transit Saturn was in the Ascendant with Mars (Planet of Logic) having its 10th aspect on the house of Deeds thus giving support to the planet of energy and other planets to work at the fullest.
THE GUEST HOUSE
In 1984 he had one further step in strengthening his presence in Afghanistan by establishing the guesthouse in Peshawar (Baitul'ansar). That house was supposed to be the first station of Arab mujahedeen when they come to Afghanistan before going to the front or start training. At that period Osama did not have his own command or training camps. He used to send the newcomers to one of the Afghan factions.
The guesthouse establishment was coinciding with the formation of Jihad Service Bureau by Abdullah Azzam in Peshawar. The Bureau was very active in terms of media, publications and charity work. The Bureau publications were important in attracting more Saudis and Arabs to Afghanistan. – Please note that in 1984 transit Saturn was in the 3rd house of Communication and Media thus giving indication that during this period activities related to media relations becomes more active in relation to the native's work.
THE CAMPS
In 1986 Osama decided to have his own camps inside Afghanistan and within two years he built more than six camps. Some were mobilized more than once. He decided to have his own front and to run his own battles with his own command. Among the Arab fighters he had, there were senior Arab ex-military men fromSyria and Egypt with good military experience. The story of the guesthouse and the camps was very attractive for more Arab mujahedeen to come and there was a significant surge in their numbers at that period –Please note that transit Saturn in 1986 was in the 5th house of Previous deeds with the Lord Jupiter having 3rd aspect on the (Scorpio Sign) 7th house of relationships / foreign partnerships + 7th aspect on the 11th house of fulfillment of desire + Jupiter is the lord of 8thhouse of suicide bombings, blast, killings, weapons, etc. and Jupiter being the malefic planet of Taurus Lagna was placed in the 5th house in Natal chart + As seen from 8th house you will observed that 5th house becomes 10th house of deeds of the Native and the presence of the Transit Saturn giving indications of the activities going on during this period.
In addition to many exchanges of fire and small operations, the first major battle he had face to face with the Soviet army with pure Arab personnel was the battle of Jaji in the province of Baktia 200 kilometers away from Khost. From then until 1989 he had more than five major battles with hundreds of small operations and exchanges of fire. During the period 1984-1989 he was staying more in Afghanistan than Saudi Arabia. He would spend a total of eight months a year or more in Afghanistan. –Please note that Transit Saturn in 1987 was in the 6th house of enemies having its 3rd aspect on the 8th house of death, blast, killings, wars, suicide bombings etc. In Mundane astrology 7th house is also related to the house of wars + In his Natal Chart Mars the lord of 7th house (Scorpio sign) is placed in the Ascendant having its 8th aspect on the 8th house of killings, fighting's, blast etc. In Natal chart Venus is placed in the 10th house of deeds (and 10th house lord is Saturn) thus transit Saturn giving indications that during transit in the 6th house – 6th house of enemies becomes the Sign Libra (House of War in Natural Zodiac) where Rahu is placed and Rahu is having 5th aspect over Venus which is in close conjunction with Mercury + Rahu, Ketu and Saturn is having identical degrees with the ascendant where Mars is placed thus these parameters giving strong indication of more than five major battles with hundreds of small operations and exchanges of fire took place during 1986 – 1989.
AL – QAE'DAH
In 1988 he noticed that he was backward in his documentation and was not able to give answers to some families asking about their loved ones gone missing in Afghanistan. He decided to make the matter much more organized and arranged for proper documentation. He made a tracking record of the visitors, be they mujahedeen or charity or simple visitors. Their movement between the guesthouse and the camps had to be recorded as well as their first arrival and final departure. The whole complex was then termed Al-Qa'edah which is an Arabic word meaning "The Base." Al-Qa'edah was very much public knowledge. It was funny to see some people triumphing because they discovered it!
BACK TO THE KINGDOM
Late 1989 after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, he went to the kingdom in an ordinary trip. There he was banned from travel and was trapped in the kingdom. The Soviet withdrawal might have been a factor but the main reasons for the travel ban were his intentions to start a new "front" of jihad in South Yemen. In addition, he embarrassed the regime by lectures and speeches warning of impending invasion by Saddam. At that time the regime was at very good terms with Saddam. He was instructed officially to keep low profile and not to give public talks. Despite the travel ban he was not hostile to regime at this stage. Indeed he presented a written advice in the form of a detailed, personal, private and confidential letter to the king few weeks before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait –All these activities giving indications about the Saturn in 1989 was in the 8th house having its 3rd aspect on the 10th house of deeds thus giving major boost to the house of deeds and the activities during this time period.
AFTER THE IRAQI INVASION
He reacted swiftly to Iraqi invasion and saw it fulfilling his prophecy. He immediately forwarded another letter to the king suggesting in detail how to protect the country from potentially advancing Iraqi forces. In addition to many military tactics suggested, he volunteered to bring all the Arab mujahedeen to defend the kingdom. That letter was presented in the first few days of the incident, and the regime response was of consideration!
While he was expecting some call to mobilize his men and equipment he heard the news which transferred his life completely. The Americans are coming. He always describes that moment as shocking moment. He felt depressed and thought that maneuvers had to change. Instead of writing to the king or approaching other members of the royal family, he started lobbying through religious scholars and Muslim activists. He succeeded in extracting a fatwah from one of the senior scholars that training and readiness is a religious duty. He immediately circulated that fatwah and convinced people to have their training in Afghanistan. It was estimated that 4000 went to Afghanistan in response to the fatwah. The regime was not happy with his activities so they limited his movement to Jeddah only. He was summoned for questioning twice for some of his speeches and activities and was given warnings. To intimidate him, the regime raided his farm in the suburb of Jeddah by the National Guard. He was not there during the raid and was very angry when told. He wrote a letter of protest to Prince Abdullah. Abdullah apologized and claimed he is not aware and promised to who ever were responsible will be dealt strictly according provisions.
FLEEING THE KINGDOM
Osama was fed up with this almost house arrest situation and did not imagine himself able to stay in the country with the American forces around. One of his brothers was very close to King Fahad and also close to Prince Ahmed, deputy minister of interior. He convinced his brother that he needed to leave the country to sort out some business matters in Pakistan and come back. There was a difficult obstacle, the stubborn Prince Nayef, minister of interior. His brother waited until Nayef went in a trip outside the kingdom and extracted lifting the ban from Prince Ahmed. When he arrived in Pakistan around April 1991 he sent a letter to his brother telling him that he is not coming back and apologized for letting him down for the entire family.
IN AFGHANISTANAGAIN
After his arrival to Pakistan he went straight to Afghanistan because he knew the Pakistani intelligence would hand him back to the Saudis. There, he attended the collapse of the communist regime and the consequent dispute between the Afghan parties. He spent great effort to arbitrate between them but with no success He ordered his followers to avoid any involvement in the conflict and told them it was a sin to side with any faction. During his stay the Saudis tried more than once to kidnap or kill him in collaboration with the Pakistani intelligence. His friends in the Saudi and Pakistani establishments would always leak the plan and make him ready for it. After his failure in sorting the Afghani dispute, he decided to leave Afghanistan. The only alternative country he had was Sudan. He left Afghanistan disguised in private jet only few months after his arrival. That was in late 1991. – Please note that in 1991 Transit Saturn was in the 10thhouse of deeds (in its own sign) where Sun is placed + Transit Saturn from 10th house is having 6:8 relations with the Lord Jupiter (Jupiter placed in the 5th house of deeds) thus giving indication about the betrayal and the reason for him to leave the Afghanistan in disguised.
IN SUDAN
His choice of Sudan had nothing to do with jihad or "terrorism." He was attracted to Sudan because of what was at that time an Islamic banner raised by the new regime in Sudan. He wanted to have good refuge as well as help the government in its construction projects. There was no intention from his side or from the Sudanese regime to have any military activity in Sudan. Indeed the Sudanese government refused even sending some of his followers to the front in the south. He was treated in Sudan as a special guest who wanted to help Sudan when everybody was turning away. In Sudan he mobilized a lot of construction equipment and enrolled himself in busy construction projects. He spent good effort in convincing Saudi businessmen to invest in Sudan and had reasonable success. Many of his brothers and Jeddah merchants had and still have investment in real estate, farming and agricultural industry. In Sudan he had again escaped an assassination attempt which turned out later to be the plan of Saudi Intelligence. –At That time Saturn was in the 11th house of guidelines of religious court of Law having 3rd aspect on the Mars (Saturn's enemy) thus giving indication about the assassination attempt on Osama by Saudi Intelligence.
SOMALIAAND YEMEN
During his stay in Sudan anti-American incidents happened in Somalia and South Yemen. Neither of the two incidents was performed by his group in the proper sense of chain of command. Both were performed by people who had training in Afghanistan and had enough anti-American drive. He might have given some sanctioning to the operations but one thing was certain, the Sudanese were completely unaware of either.
SAUDIS GO ANTI – TALIBAN
Between his arrival to Sudan and early 1994 he was not regarded publicly as Saudi opposition and Saudi citizens were visiting him without too many precautions. Only the well-informed people would know that he was classified as enemy to the Saudi regime. His assets were frozen sometime between 1992 and 1994 but that was not published. The Saudis decided to announce their hostility early 1994 when they publicized withdrawing his citizenship. – In 1994 Transit Saturn was placed in the Ascendant (Taurus – Negative Sign) with its enemy Mars having its 3rd aspect on the house of communication, 7thaspect on the house foreign relationships, and 10th aspect on the house of deeds + Mars having 4th aspect on the 4th house of General Public.
BIN LADEN GOES ANTI – SAUDI
After long silence and tolerance, bin Laden replied by issuing a communiqué condemning the Saudi decision and saying that he does not need the "Saudi" reference to identify himself and it is not up to Al-Saud to admit or expel people from Arabian Peninsula. He then formed together with activists and scholars from the kingdom a group called "Advice and Reform Committee" (ARC). The ARC was, according to its communiqués and published agenda, a purely political group. The ARC published around 17 communiqués which might have contained harsh criticism of the Saudi regime and plenty of religious rhetoric but never contained reference for violence or incitement of violence.
RIYADHBOMBING
The car bomb in spring 1995 in Riyadh was the first major anti-American action in the kingdom. Bin Laden never claimed responsibility, but the Saudi government tried to link the incident to bin Laden by showing video confessions of four "Arab Afghans" involved in the bombing. – In 1995 Transit Saturn was in the 2nd house with Moon having its 7th aspect on the house of bombings, killings etc.
OUT OF SUDAN
Sudan was exposed to huge international pressure for hosting bin Laden and his followers, and bin Laden felt that he is becoming an embarrassment to the Sudanese. Early in 1996 he started making contacts with his old friends in Afghanistan to prepare for his reception. He fled Sudan in a very well planned trip with many of his followers to go straight to Jalabad in Eastern Afghanistan. – In 1996 Transit Saturn was in the 3rd house of Communication having its 10th aspect on the 12th house of foreign countries.
IN AFGHANISTANTHIRD TIME
When he arrived there, the situation in Afghanistan was very unsettled between the many factions, but he had very good relations with all factions and all would protect him. The area he arrived too was under control of Yunis Khalis, a very influential war lord who later on joined Taliban.
THE KHOBAR BOMBING
June 1996, after his arrival in Afghanistan was the Khobar bombing. Nobody claimed responsibility, but sources from inside the Saudi ministry of interior confirmed involvement of Arab Afghans, with possible link to bin Laden. The Saudi government wanted to frame Shi'a, at the beginning but Americans were very suspicious of the Saudi story. Bin Laden himself never claimed responsibility but gave many hints that he might have been involved. The Saudi government has acknowledged recently that bin Laden's men were behind the bombing. –In 1996 Transit Saturn was in the 3rd house of Communication having its 10th aspect on the 12th house of foreign countries, hospitalization etc. + 3rd house Lord Moon (important part of KCD) is having 2:12 relationship with transit Saturn + Moon is also the planet of Time of his birth + Moon is having 7th aspect on the 8th house of bombings, killings etc. + 8thhouse lord is Jupiter and Transit Saturn from the 3rd house is having 3rd aspect on the 5th house where Jupiter (the lord of 8th house of bombings, Killings etc.) is placed thus through this aspect the Lord Jupiter and the 11th house of fulfillment of desire gets activated and the native (Osama) desire of bombings gets fulfilled + Transit Saturn having 7th aspect on the 9th house of future, luck giving indications that through this fighting, bombings etc. the future of the native will gets affected as per his previous birth bad deeds (5th house).
JIHAD AGAINST AMERICA
After few months of his arrival he issued his first anti-American message, a Declaration of War. That declaration was limited to expelling American forces outside the Arabian Peninsula. His sense of security and nobody to embarrass must have been the drive to release that 12 page declaration. Interest in him by the Saudis never stopped and they tried very hard to convince Yunis Khalis to hand him over, and he refused despite the luxurious offer.
UNDER TALIBAN
Taliban swept Jalalabad late 1996, almost without war, and bin Laden came under their control. He was optimistic that they will give him sanctuary but he was not sure. He was surprised when a delegation of Taliban came to meet him by order of Mullah Omer, the leader of Taliban, with instructions to reassure him that he will have even better protection under Taliban. The delegation expressed Taliban honor of protecting somebody like him who sacrificed a lot for the sake of jihad.
ANOTHER KIDNAP FOILED
The Saudis never gave up. Early 1997 they bought some mercenaries in the Pakistani Afghani border. The operation was arranged with the Pakistani intelligence. The information leaked to bin Laden and he decided to move immediately to Qandahar, the stronghold of Taliban. The operation was then cancelled. –In Early 1997 Saturn was in a transiting mode from the 3rd house of communication to the 4th house of family thus giving indications through its aspects during transit mode about the leak of information to bin laden due to which he moved to his stronghold of Taliban (His home) and thus attempt of his being kidnap gets foiled.
CREDIT WITH TALIBAN
When bin Laden left Jalalabad, he ordered many of his followers to join Taliban in their war against Dictum and to protect Kabul. The unexpected happened. Taliban troops were fooled by a trap in the north andKabul front was exposed to Shah Masood. Taliban were so disorganized at that stage that it was only those few Arabs who were there to push Shah Masood off Kabul and they did efficiently.
FACE TO FACE WITH MULLAH OMER
The leader of Taliban Mullah Omer was keen to meet Osama. He met him early 1997 after two TV interviews, Channel 4 and CNN. Mullah Omer expressed respect and admiration but requested him to have low profile. He stressed that that was a request and not an order. Osama replied with appreciation and thanks and reassured Mullah Omer that he going very low profile.
ANOTHER KIDNAP FOILED
Sometime in late 1997 a big operation was planned by the Americans. The primary plan was for American Special Forces to attack bin Laden's residence in Qandahar and kidnap him in a commando style operation. The plan was mocked in Pakistani desert and proved dangerous. While the Americans were reconsidering the decision, the news leaked to bin Laden, again through the Pakistani military, and he made it public. That was published in Al-Quds Al-Arabi in London. The Americans had no choice but to cancel.–Please note that in 1997 Transit Saturn from the 4th house is having 3rd aspect on the 6th house of enemies + 7th aspect on the 10th house of deeds + 10th aspect on the Ascendant (Mind) thus giving indications about the activities undertaken by his enemies (Americans) etc + Mercury being the Significator of Communication in Natural Zodiac and also the friend of Ascendant Lord (Taurus – Venus) and being placed in the 10th house of Saturn and Transit Saturn was having 7th aspect on the 10th house where Mercury, Venus, and Sun is placed (Mercury and Venus is in close conjunction) + Third house Lord is Moon and is placed in the house of Mercury (as seen from 4th house where transit Saturn is placed – Moon is placed in the 11th house of fulfillment of desire in respect of communication which will protect the native from the hands of the enemies (Moon is the lord of Communication in his natal chart and is placed in the 2nd house (as seen from ascendant) and 11th house (as seen from the 4th house of family) thus giving indication of about leaking of information in the favour of Native (Osama).
LOBBYING WITH ULEMA
Bin Laden noticed that the driving force in Taliban were Ulema (religious scholars). He made very good links with them and lobbied specifically for the subject of American forces in the Arabian Peninsula. He was able to extract a fatwah signed by some 40 scholars in Afghanistan sanctioning the use of all means to expel the American forces from the Peninsula. The issue of that fatwah was an asset to him inside Taliban domain. He felt that Ulema were at his back and he can go high profile after a long silence.
THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT
His second presence in Afghanistan has attracted many mujahedeen to move there again. Among those were Ayman El-Zawahery of Egyptian Jihad and Rift'ee Taha of Jama'a Islamia. There was also new phenomenon during that period. Bin Laden decided to go pan-Islamic instead of Saudi or Arabic. He attracted Kashmiris, Pakistanis, Indians, and Muslims from the Soviet Republics. He thought at that stage that he could make an international alliance against America. In February 1998 he declared the formation of the International Front. The declaration contained two elements, formation of the front and a fatwah sanctioning killing Americans and Jews. Apart from two Arabic newspapers, the declaration had a minimum coverage by the press.
MEDIA ESCALATION
After avoiding the media for almost a year he decided to open the door wide for them. In April 1998 he received the ABC TV team and two weeks later he held press conference in Khost and warned of impending attack in few weeks time. Mullah Omer was not happy with this new media escalation, but felt it difficult to control him while he is protected by the scholars. Indeed bin Laden said that he would abide with whatever the Ulema board decides.
AFRICAN BOMBINGS
The bombings in Kenya and Tanzania July 1998 were not a big surprise. Yes, it was a surprise but in terms of choice of location and targets. Despite his declaration of war against America anywhere, the attack was expected inside Saudi Arabia. Having said that, it is not [to be taken] for granted that he is behind the bombings. –In 1998 Transit Saturn was in the 5th house with the 8th house Lord Jupiter thus giving indications of bombings which occurred in the foreign country in July 1998. Please note that Jupiter is the malefic planet for Taurus Ascendant and whenever transit Saturn came in the fifth house then activities related to bombings took place in the foreign countries (7th house foreign relations, foreigners) which lead to his fulfillment of desires (11th house). + 5th house is also related with the relations of the native with foreigners.
In 2004 Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001attacks on the United States. The attacks involved the hijacking of four commercial passenger aircraft, the subsequent destruction of those planes and the World Trade Centre in New York City, New York, severe damage to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and the deaths of 2,974 people and the nineteen hijackers. In response to the attacks, the United States launched a War on Terror to depose the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and capture AL-Qaeda operatives, and several countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation to preclude future attacks. The CIA's Special Activities Division was given the lead in tracking down and killing or capturing bin Laden. –Please note that Transit Saturn in 2001 was in the 8thhouse of suicide bombings having its 3rdaspect on the 10thhouse of deeds where Sun, Mercury and Venus is placed (Mercury and Venus is in close conjunction and Sun being the lord of the 4thhouse of General Public) and 10thaspect on the 5thhouse where Jupiter (Lord of 8thhouse) is placed + Jupiter having its 9thaspect on the Mars (Mars being the lord of 7thhouse of foreign relationships and 12thhouse of foreign countries, hospitalization etc.) + Jupiter having its 7thaspect on the 11thhouse of fulfillment of desire in respect of bombings etc. Transit Saturn in the 8thhouse giving indications about the occurrence of major events in the life of Native (Osama).
BIN LADEN THE PERSON
Bin Laden was brought up with good manners. He matured as extremely humble and very generous person. He insists to join his comrades in every act. Very frequently he cooks for them and serves them. He lives a simple life in a small flat in Jeddah or in a shed in Afghanistan and insists on his family to eat simple and to dress simple.
He is known to be strictly truthful and would never lie, but he is politically conscious and believes there is a room for political maneuver even if you are devoted person. Despite being shy he has dominating personality. He speaks very little and looks serious most of the time. He would appear with a soft smile but he seldom laughs. His followers see a lot of aura on him and show great voluntary respect to him. For some reason that falls short of a proper charisma. He is not known for giving distinguished speeches, and there are almost no audio or video recordings of him.
He is widely educated and spends a good deal of time reading. He is fond of media monitoring and information gathering and research. There was always a data management team with him wherever he went.
Among the outstanding features is his courage. He will not show a flicker even if a bomb exploded near him. He was exposed to more than 40 incidents of heavy bombardment, three of them were full of death and flesh around him. A Scud missile exploded 17 meters distance from him. At one time he was almost the victim of chemical weapons. More than once he needed treatment in hospital for body injuries. Despite this courage he is very cautious person. He would not keep any electronic instrument close to his vicinity. Some times he even avoids any device even if it is a simple watch near him because he believes this might help in targeting him.
He is intelligent and has reasonable strategic thinking, but he downgrades himself in the presence of Islamic scholars. He always admires Sheikh Safar al-Hawali and would have not gone through his current controversial path if al-Hawali was free. Some people saw him as a man with vision, others doubt it. They think that he never had clear long term plan. They see the last fatwah as evidence of that. –Ascendant is Taurus + Placement of Mars in Taurus + Jupiter 9th aspect over Mars and Ascendant + Saturn 7thaspect over Mars and Ascendant (Taurus) + Mars aspect on houses (signs) and his placement in the Ascendant (Mind and Brain) giving indication about his nature, thinking, personality of the native and the activities he will undertake in this birth.
RELATION WITH AL – SAUD
Contrary to what is always reiterated bin Laden has never had official relations with the Saudi regime or the royal family. All his contacts would happen through his brothers. The brothers would approach two members of the royal family who were fairly sympathetic to Osama. They were Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, deputy minister of interior and Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Aziz, deputy minister of defense. He might have met them in few occasions but those meetings would have been purely social or accidental in one of his brother's houses. Specifically he had no relation with Turki al-Faisal head of Saudi intelligence. He used to be very suspicious of his role in Afghanistan and once had open confrontation with him in 1991 and accused him of being the reason of the fight between Afghan factions. He was wary of the Saudi government very early in the eighties, but he thought it was wiser to keep silent and benefit from their de facto support to jihad in that period.
RELATIONS WITH AMERICA
Bin Laden has never had any relation with America or American officials. Claims of relation with CIA or other American departments are all unfounded. Since the late seventies he had strong anti-American feeling. He committed himself and family and advised all friends to avoid buying American goods unless it was necessary. He was saying very early in the eighties that the next battle is going to be with America. ... No aid or training or other supports have ever been given to bin Laden from Americans. Bin Laden would bring money from individuals donating straight to him. The weapons he had were either captured from the Soviets or bought from other factions.
RELATIONS WITH PAKISTAN
Again there were no official relations with officials in Pakistani government. However, he had paramount respect by many Pakistanis including people in the army, intelligence and religious establishment. They were so penetrating that they would always leak any plan against him by the Pakistani-Saudi-American alliance.
RELATIONS WITH TALIBAN
His relation with Taliban would best be understood if Taliban themselves are understood properly. First of all Taliban are not simply another Afghan faction supported by Pakistan. Taliban are sincere to their beliefs, a religiously committed group unspoiled by political tactics. They would never bargain with what they see as matters of principle. Bin Laden for them is a saint. He is a symbol of sacrifice for the sake of jihad. They see him as very rich Arab from the Holy Land who gave up his wealth and luxury to fight for the sake of his brother Muslims in Afghanistan. They see themselves performing a double duty here, an Islamic duty of protecting this distinguished person and a tribal duty of protecting a descent refugee. The latter is a big value in Afghanistan. Once, a Taliban leader said to a Saudi envoy that if a goat would seek refuge to my tent I would never hand it over, how on earth do you want us to hand over a holy man like bin Laden?
There was no argument within Taliban about handing over bin Laden. There is however some difference in opinion about how high his media profile should be.
In addition to the factor of principle, bin Laden had twice had the credit of protecting Kabul recently.
Bin Laden became an intimate part of Taliban structure when he taught them how to deal with state affairs in a proper manner. For example, they were to be fooled by some oil and gas companies and sell the pipeline project for cheap. He advised them to learn from the Iraq-Turkey and Iraq-Syria agreements. They wanted to privatize some factories and were about to sell them to Pakistani businessmen for cheap prices. He taught them how to conduct proper bidding procedure and guarantee good prices.
RELATIONS WITH IRAN
It is needless to say that bin Laden has not had any relation with Iran. Iran knows that bin Laden is a committed Sunni and he regards Iran as Shi'a state. The trust between the two is minimal but both have avoided criticizing each other publicly. Having said that, he sees America as common enemy and according to a Pakistani newspaper he regards an anti-American alliance with Iran and China as something to be considered.
BIN LADEN FOLLOWERS
Bin Laden has two circles of followers. First are the closed core followers who are related to him by a chain of command and take orders like a secret organization. Most of those are probably in Afghanistan. Many are inside Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia and probably Gulf countries. Like any secret group, those followers would not disclose their relation. Inside Saudi Arabia many of those would appear like any average citizen. The number of those is probably in hundreds.
The second circle is much wider and the number is probably in thousands. They are located in the same countries. They would look at bin Laden as Godfather but they do not have proper chain of command or secret links with him. They would regard themselves obliged to perform some of his general orders. Most of those followers are not organized and get trapped by the Saudi police fairly easily. But some are intelligent and make use of the loose nature of their structure to function without attracting attention.
FINANCE
Before his final departure from Saudi Arabia, his financial activities were almost copies of his brothers. Indeed, he is still part of the big mother company. However he had committed himself at very early stage to a special code which he thought was necessary to guarantee the Islamic nature of this activity. For example he would never invest in non-Islamic country. He would never use banks unless it was absolutely necessary. He does not believe in stock market because he thought the investor cannot escape interest since the money has to be in a bank and produce some interest. He is also preoccupied with the idea that Jews control banks and stock market.
He had three setbacks which would have made him bankrupt otherwise. The first was the freezing of his direct assets by the Saudi government. All his traceable money was frozen including his share in the big mother company of bin Laden. No body knows the exact amount but it was probably in the range of 200-300 million Dollars.
The second setback was the loss he had in Sudan. The Sudanese government was too weak financially to pay him for the construction projects and he ended up hardly with 10% of the payment. He lost in Sudan not less than 150 million dollars.
The third setback happened last year when one of his close aids defected to the Saudi government. The defector Sidi Tayyib Al-Madani had some financial information about him until early 1995. Bin Laden knew about the plans of this man to defect and so had few months to liquidate the few businesses known to this defector. There was very little trace of those businesses but dismantling them was not without loss.
There is, however the other side of the story. Bin Laden is a member of a big family. His father's financial inheritance has not been sorted. The brothers agreed to keep many assets of the father and distribute the profits only. Most of the brothers and sisters are observing Muslims and very keen not to "spoil" their income with money which is not theirs. They believe it is their duty to let the owner of any riyal to have it. The only way they guarantee that is by letting bin Laden's share reach him. Some of the brothers and sisters believed it was their religious duty to support this distinguished brother from their own money. While many are very careful not to irritate the royal family, many more do not care and insist on letting the money reach Osama.
The way bin Laden family money is structured is very complicated because there is the big company and there are many small companies of few brothers together, and there are many individuals with their personal investment. To make the matter even more complex it is very well known that Bin Laden family money is intimately mixed with the royal family money in a very complex way. Most of the companies are joint ventures with members of the royal family including King Fahad himself.
There is another big source of income to bin Laden, donations. During the early jihad era when it was blessed by the Saudi regime, he made excellent relations with many wealthy Saudis and Arabs. It is true that most of those would not support him now because of the Saudi government position but some do take the risk.
Lastly, bin Laden activities are not very dependent on money. His followers are not mercenaries. Training does not cost a lot of money. Explosives and weapons are very cheap in some parts of the world. In Somalia TNT for example is cheaper than sugar. In Yemen you can buy an RPG for less than TV set. The role of money here is over exaggerated by many writers.
PUBLIC IMAGE
In the eighties bin Laden was seen as a star of the Afghan Jihad. He was very much admired and respected for his sacrifice but he was not seen as a potential leader. Almost nobody saw leadership ambitions in him at that period. His public image was so good that the regime used this image to have a boost during early days of the Gulf War. The regime published a fabricated interview with him in "Al-Muslimoon" newspaper claiming he supported the regime measures to counteract the Iraqi invasion.
In the period between Iraqi invasion and his reappearance in Afghanistan 1996 he was almost forgotten by the public. The elite and especially the jihadis were still admiring him and following up his news. Some even made their way to Sudan to meet him and offer support. The public were reminded about him by the video confessions of the group attributed to Riyadh bombing.
After his declaration of jihad in 1996 his public image had a surge but this time as a leader rather than a star. There was a lot of controversy about him. In Saudi Arabia nobody would accuse him of being part of conspiracy but people would differ about his new program. There was almost a consensus in the Saudi domain on refusal of American presence in Arabia and many would like the idea of expelling the Americans by force. Many others had reservations and thought violence will bring a lot of trouble to the country. Interestingly those who disagreed with him did not accuse him having personal agenda or looking for personal benefits.
This image went on with occasional boosts by the media until the African bombings. Interestingly the story of the International Front and fatwah did not attract much attention. The Kenya Tanzania bombings reminded people of bin Laden. The media coverage was so overwhelming that the Saudi authorities felt jealous of bin Laden. People's reaction, however, was mixed. While many felt triumph for scaring the Americans, many others felt upset by the picture of hundreds of civilians killed and injured in the attack. They felt that this can never be justified.
The American missiles then played very strong role in sorting the controversy. After the American attack on Sudan and Afghanistan it became almost shameful to criticize bin Laden. People inside Saudi Arabia and in other Arab countries were full of anger towards America, and whoever can antagonize America would provide a fulfillment to their desire of discharging their anger. The American strike with the associated remarks by Clinton and American officials proved that bin Laden is a big challenge to America. In the mind of average Arab and Muslim bin Laden appeared as the man who was able to drive America so crazy that it started shooting haphazardly at unjustified targets. There was another factor which made people forget the scene of civilian victims, the special nature of the Sudanese factory. Those who had reservations of the African bombings thought that this arrogance of the Americans is much worse than the embassy bombings. Their view was that while bin Laden or others can make "executive" mistake because of their difficult circumstances, logistics and communication, America is not supposed to do this mistake unless it is done in purpose.
Interestingly the jealousy of the Saudi regime was seen clearly in the Saudi media when they instructed the Saudi TV and radio not to mention bin Laden name at all. Even when they reported the American missile attack the news item was "attack on terrorist base in Afghanistan, period".
Regards
About the Author
M.B.A. in Human Resource Management and International Business from G.G.S.I.P. University, Delhi.
Experience in Administration field in Multinational and International Organization.
Astrology is his Passion, Life, Hobby etc. Social Service through astrology helps him in building Human Relations.
Studying of Human Behaviour through research related to different areas of Human Life Cycle + Providing helping hand to human beings by giving free services of astrology to them through Facebook, E-Mail replies etc. so that they can overcome their problems in day to day life and fulfill their life ambitions.
On Facebook and on Twitter you can search him by his id - Dhiraj Bakshi.
His blog - http://ancestorsandvedicastrology.blogspot.com - for latest astrology articles.
At present he is working on the new idea and concept called Law of Astrology. Courts functioning as per the administrative procedures and guidelines defined by the Religious Court of Law can be studied through divisional charts, interlinking charts, transit charts etc.
The impact of the decisions taken by judges of Supreme Court of Astrology in different areas of Human Life Cycle can also be studied through Kaal Chakra Dasha.
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