The August 20, 1998, retaliatory attacks by the U.S. on bin Laden’s camp at Khost, Afghanistan and his chemical plant in Sudan “turned bin Laden from a marginal figure in the Muslim world into a global celebrity. …Maulana Sami ul-Haq, a corpulent cleric who runs what is probably Pakistan’s largest religious academy, explained that the strikes had made bin Laden ‘a symbol for the whole Islamic world. Against all those outside powers who were trying to crush Muslims. He is the courageous one who raised his voice against them. He’s a hero to us, but it is America that first made him a hero.’ ”
– Peter Bergen, Holy War, Inc., Pages 128-129