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US Policy is defined as: Israel/Palestine, ending the US support of apartheid and ethnic cleansing the United States funds, supports and diplomatically protects from International law; invading countries that did not attack us on false pretense and an end to shielding the governments of Saudi Arabia and other regimes hurting their people. Nearly 70% of the world's people agree that US foreign policy is the problem and cite this as why they are angry with Americans. Some polls have shown this as high as 90%. Americans by
comparison remain largely oblivious. Of course bin Laden stated nothing about hating our "Freedom" or that we are "Infidels" which is also consistent with previous interviews. In fact he mocked the Bush Administration's attempt to paint his objectives in such simplistic terms worthy of the kindergarten corner.
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Excerpts from the Tape: "We decided to destroy towers in America," bin Laden said, referring to the World Trade Center. "God knows that it had not occurred to our mind to attack the towers, but after our patience ran out and we saw the injustice and inflexibility of the American-Israeli alliance toward our people in
Palestine and Lebanon, this came to my mind," he said. In his statement, Bin Laden accused President Bush of "misleading" the American people since the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "Your security is not in the hands of (Democratic candidate John) Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands," bin Laden said. "To
the U.S. people, my talk is to you about the best way to avoid another disaster," he said. "I tell you: security is an important element of human life and free people do not give up their security." "If Bush says we hate freedom, let him tell us why we didn't attack Sweden, for example. It is known that those who hate freedom do not have dignified souls, like those of the 19 blessed ones," he
said, referring to the 19 hijackers. "We fought you because we are free .. and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours." "Despite entering the fourth year after Sept. 11, Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you and therefore the reasons are still there to repeat what happened (with new attacks)," Bin Laden added.
Bin Laden also said that Bush's reaction toward the Sept. 11 attacks was slow which gave the hijackers the time they needed to carry out the attacks. Al-Jazeera 10/29/2004
View the 18 Minute Broadcast READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT IN ENGLISH |
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Unlike the discredited Bin Laden tape of December 2001, there is no reason to suspect this latest tape is not genuine, (though rumors persist that it is not). Bin Laden's statements are consistent with previous statements in known interviews including that with Frontline, (The discredited version of 2001 was not consistent in language or description) and the person on the tape appears to be him; the quality is good and clear.
We'll concede this is the real thing. The next logical question is, why wait three years and nearly two months to claim responsibility September 11, 2001, four days before the election? That has been one of the main sources of doubt and contention with journalists like myself digging, questioning and increasingly becoming alarmed at the inaccuracies and propaganda whipping Americans into a all-out blood lust fear inspired, blindly patriotic frenzy. This
tape furthers this emotional smorgasbord, making it awfully convenient on several levels. John Kerry made a big deal about the fact that we invaded Afghanistan to "Hunt down Bin Laden" then took our eye off the ball so we could invade what we really wanted, Iraq. Cheney made it clear within 5 hours of the planes hitting on 9/11, Afghanistan was a convenience, scribbling a note insisting they find some way to tie Saddam to 9/11. (The Movie Hijacking Catastrophe goes into this in depth). In fact this administration used bin Laden as long as they needed to and then substituted Saddam changing everyone's focus. This is the first authentic tape in almost three years. Nothing, no appearances, messages, taunts...nothing for three years and now last week we have an obvious American accented "terrorist" promising worse than 9/11. Today Bin Laden
suddenly pops up? |
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Repercussions Most disturbing, bin Laden articulates what the peace movement and anti-war movements have said, "It's our foreign policy stupid". Which is true. It is the problem and why terrorism targeted at US interests exists. There is no way around that. US Foreign Policy is the root cause of terrorism. Bush couldn't have asked for a better tool
to squash the peace movement. Bush and Kerry
adamantly declare they will not "Be intimidated
or influenced" by anything bin Laden says, suggests or intimates thus positioning anyone stating the problem is our foreign policy as "terrorist sympathizers" rather than rational human beings who object to breaking international law, discarding the constitution or the commission of acts defined as war crimes when committed by any country other than the US or Israel. It kills the diplomatic solution and supports the force solution, the Bush Doctrine. Bin Laden's objections to our foreign policy are legitimate. What we are doing by proxy in Palestine is wrong. Not my opinion, that is according to the Hague Resolutions, Geneva Conventions, Rome Statutes, The United Nations, our own constitution and International law. For those using the God excuse,
nearly everything the US funds in Palestine ignores the teachings of the Gospels, which for Christians is the final word of God and take precedence over all books of the Old Testament. Those justifying this ethnic cleansing with Old Testament prophecies and quotes, negate the whole point, message, meanings and teachings of Christ behaving as if the year is 24 BC, not 2004 AD. This distortion represents another botulism infested can of twisted worms Bush's agenda exploits well. It, Chiliastic Christianity, continues as a root cause and
enabler of terrorism. Without it, peace would have been achieved in the Middle East, three decades ago. What we are doing in Iraq is wrong. Again, not my opinion. That statement originates with the Hague Resolutions, the Geneva Conventions, Rome Statutes, our own constitution and International law. Terrorism's defeat only occurs upon the removal its causes: Oppression,
greed, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, occupation, colonization, conquest and invasion, not the leaves, flower or seeds illustrated by the people. Our policies cause terrorism both in Palestine and Iraq. And yes, the two conflicts are intimately connected. Anything other than addressing the realities on the ground of these two policy nightmares feeds terrorism, creates more of these reasons and more baby bin Ladens. Simply put, unless you get the root, the weeds always grow back. We're dead heading (knocking off the dead flower) by
attacking the results of these policies, the terrorists. We're not pulling weeds out by the roots since we continue to fertilize and seed the situations causing terror to grow in the first place. Unfortunately, this tape provides fuel for Bush's objectives. Our "I'm never wrong and my actions are God inspired" President Bush and "Me too" Kerry backed by warmongers and profiteers can now use any attempt addressing the causes of terrorism as being 'influenced by the terrorists'. This well-timed tape along with its effectiveness at vilifying anyone looking for diplomatic solutions eradicates humane resolutions, opting for the barbaric while effectively
segregating those promoting diplomacy thus insuring this "war" goes on indefinitely. Concurrently it creates enough fear to insure the money keeps rolling in and the remaining portions of the PNAC plan, now known as the Bush Doctrine can continue to clear the Middle East of any person not 100% behind Israel or the US. Fox News led the charge beginning at 5PM. O'Reilly set the pace, claiming
Eminem is siding with
the terrorists and an anti-American sympathizer because he opposes the war? And people believe that. It only took one minute for O'Reilly to spin a 360. Not quite a record, but almost. A rap singer is a terrorist sympathizer because he opposes our invading countries that have not attacked us, killing over 100,000 civilians and basically raping their country? Has reason completely left the American mindset? By minute three Mr. O'Reilly insisted we are in World War III...against terrorism, forgetting that terrorism embodies a dynamic, non-descript emotional adjective that sometimes serves as a verb or a noun but cannot be defined. Of course he's never explained how an army can fight an ever-changing idea that is a reaction and a tactic. Meanwhile 75% of the women in this country are terrified, just where the President wants them.
A Plea or a Warning?
The language of this statement caught my eye: "Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands," bin Laden said. "To the U.S. people, my talk is to you about the best way to avoid another disaster," he said.
By appealing to the American people, this tape differentiates itself from all others. What the tape says to me, reading between the lines is: "Here's your chance America. We don't hate you. We hate what you're doing so we're giving you one last opportunity to change your ways. If you choose to continue killing us, our children, our culture and our faith, you leave us no choice but to fight back. Stop
interfering with our ability to live and we'll stop interfering with you. If you don't, you have only yourselves to blame." I see this as the moral equivalency of a clear conscience from bin Laden's point of view. His way of giving us one last chance to reverse this course. In his mind I believe he's saying: "See I told the American people what they need to do in order to avoid
being attacked. I'm not asking them to do anything illegal. I'm just asking them to stop doing what is illegal and return to the principles and values they pretend they espouse. And look, they don't care. They want to kill us. Therefore since they won't stop killing us and messing with our lives, they are not innocent any longer. Not their women. Not their children, none of them. Not innocent in God's eyes and not innocent in mine. They allowed this to happen, therefore all are responsible." Ominous, but I believe realistic.
bottom line
PRIMARILY: My questions show suspicion toward the timing. This administration, and as Kerry is a Senator I consider him part of it, finesses the American people and rarely tells the relevant truth. Cross reference Europe in the 1920's and 1930's and you see the same tactics, logic and agendas at work in the United States today. Secondly:
They've used 9/11 to strip us of our most personal rights and control the American people, basically taking our freedom and convincing us that the loss of freedoms is freedom. They've told us persons against pre-emptive strikes and our consistent violations of international law are unpatriotic. This administration brands diplomacy and addressing the causes as anti-American. Ironically these same protests of policy follow the rational that started the Revolutionary War. Read the Declaration of Independence.
It only takes a minute to read it and compare it to post 9/11 with the Patriot Act. See how similar the issues are? Third: I find it strange that it took three
years for bin Laden to claim responsibility for 9/11. Today is the first time; up until this point there was no concrete evidence. Now he's made it clear. Why now? I find it suspicious that he disappeared from consideration until Kerry pounded home the fact we used him to go to war and then changed our direction. He disappeared from the media, now he's back? Extremely disturbing to me is the convenience of positioning the only sane resolution to ending
this war, the addressing and reexamination of our foreign policy, as "intimidation" or caving to terrorists rather than diplomacy. This serves the agenda of those promoting this war by effectively silencing those of us seeking peaceful and humane resolutions inline with our constitution and international law. Finally the most ominous, I suspect this tape is a gesture, a warning and a last opportunity for
peace, which the bullheaded nature of our government now will never approach on the convenience of "being influenced by terrorists". You see with this, even those in the Arab world who may have sympathized with bin Laden's agenda but not his tactics, no longer need to feel guilty. Should another attack come they can say, "He gave the American people the chance to change this and they refused. Anything from this point forward is their own fault. They are all guilty."
The cost of war coming home with the majority of our reservists deployed eight thousand miles away, that is a very frightening thought. But of late nothing surprises me. We can create a win/win here and eliminate terrorism. But to so that we must step out of the fear and actually begin to think. <END> |
