"Secularist vs. Islamist"... Me thinks you've listened to too many CNN talking heads.
What a load of crap this "Secularist vs Islamist" argument is. You really think Bin Ladin was motivated by his Islamicness?
Are we to assume that all orthodox islamists (if we could even call Bin Ladin one of those) by their very nature hate and want to kill anyone and anything that does not hold to the islamist orthodoxy?
Hell no. Bin Ladin wanted power. Pure power. Islam was just good cover for Bin Ladin's quest for power. And Sadam was just as into playing that game as Bin Ladin.
Where is the evidence that Bin Ladin hated Sadam? There is plenty of evidence starting to accumulate that would show the opposite: they were bedfellows, united by a quest for power over the islamic world, and a mutual hatred for the United States.
Scott