And, should we care if they do?
I always considered this “a vote for X is a vote for the terrorists” rhetoric to be repugnant. Never mind the obvious implication that someone is speaking for Al-Qaeda when they make such a statement, they’re probably wrong anyway. Nevertheless, we got this comment today from one of our friends Down Under: Australian leader: Al-Qaida wants Obama .
“If I were running al-Qaida in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory, not only for Obama but also for the Democrats.”
To which he was smacked down by Obama’s spokesperson:
“If Prime Minister Howard truly believes what he says, perhaps his country should find its way to contribute more than just 1,400 troops so some American troops can come home,” he said. “It’s easy to talk tough when it’s not your country or your troops making the sacrifices.”
Is Howard right though? Upon further review, it looks like Osama may be inclined to disagree with him. For example, here are some excerpts from a tape bin Laden made in 2004:
All that we have mentioned has made it easy for us to provoke and bait this administration. All that we have to do is to send two mujahidin to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al-Qaida, in order to make the generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic, and political losses without their achieving for it anything of note other than some benefits for their private companies.
hmmm. It kinda sounds like they want us to stay in Iraq, doesn’t it? Wasn’t the point of 9/11 more about provoking a response, and less about killing American civilians? The Iraq invasion was al-Qaeda’a dream come true, a cause célèbre’ to unite Muslims who wouldn’t have otherwise listened to them, right? Why would al-Qaeda want to Bush to leave office at all?
I think the larger point that gets missed is that we shouldn’t really care about who they want to win anyway. Why would anyone base their voting decision on what al-Qaeda wants? (or rather, what the Australian PM says al-Qaeda wants). Unfortunately , however, people obviously fall for this.
ChenZhen's Chamber 