Robin Hood and Bin Laden

RobinHood's story is too well known to retell here. This semi-mythicalfigure has been romanticized and idealized by ballads told by bards. Itis quite possible that there is some grain of truth from which thismyth sprung up. In any case, Robin was viewed by the authorities at thetime as an outlaw. In the strict sense of the law, he was indeed was.The ballads concede that he was also a thief, a highway robber, and anoutlaw.However, the bards and the public seem to justify theseactions by various means: for example, portraying Robin as a man ofnoble character, that he shared his loot with the poor, that hisactions were in response to injustices committed by Prince John and theSherrif of Nottingham, and that his thefts were aimed at those who gotwealthy out of others' toils.One can draw parallels with howsome see Bin Laden today. Not only Muslims or Arabs, but other peoplein the third world today, who resent the U.S. policies for one reasonor the other.This Robin Hood complex is evident in that supportfor Bin Laden is not really condoning his methods, but who he isagainst in the first place.