Like God, Al Qaeda doesn't exist, but we had to invent it

The book Al-Qaeda by Jason Burke shows there's no Al-Qaeda. From a review: "The most striking fact Jason Burke hammers through in this meticulous study is that 'Al Qaeda' does not exist. What does exist is a series of disparate and competing forms of militant Islamism. Bin Laden’s faction, rarely termed 'Al Qaeda' by its followers, is only one part of this, yet it has become lazy shorthand for a massive phenomenon. For one example, the twin towers atrocity could be said to be the work of 'Al Qaeda'; the ones in Madrid and Bali cannot. And al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian thug currently given to beheading aid-workers in Iraq, has been described as an 'Al Qaeda operative' and 'bin Laden’s Lieutenant' in highly reputable papers, despite their groups being bitter rivals of one another." In related news, Yale Professor Craphogger has a new study out that says there are no Democratic and Republican Parties -- just a bunch of disparate people who vote every few years under the illusion that they have the power to change things.