Posted on 11/02/2004 3:18:39 AM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON -- Osama bin Laden, threatening a "war of attrition" that will lead America to "bankruptcy," continued to stir the political pot on the eve of the US election, with the full translation of his most recent message depicting the leader of Al Qaeda as an astute observer of American politics. In attacking US policies, bin Laden cited everything from controversial antiterrorism legislation to the ballooning federal budget deficit and charged that the Iraq war was launched to steal Middle East oil and enrich President Bush's supporters, according to the transcript of the full 18-minute tape released by the Arabic television network Al Jazeera.The tirade appeared to be an attempt to affect the outcome of today's vote, but it is unlikely to have any measurable impact on the US election, specialists on terrorism said. Indeed, they believe the intended audience is not the American public, but the Islamic world, where bin Laden is attempting to increase his stature as the defender of Arab and Muslim aspirations.
"People have such strong feelings about this election that I don't think this will have any impact," said Daniel Benjamin, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "It says he is still out there, which may remind people that President Bush hasn't captured him, but others will say he is picking on my president so I feel more loyal."
Peter Bergen, an Al Qaeda specialist who interviewed bin Laden in 1996, said that for all his apparent knowledge of campaign issues, bin Laden "doesn't understand America. There is tons of interesting information in [the message], but at the end of the day he's a total zero" when it comes to getting American voters to pay attention to what a self-described mass murderer has to say.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
They are all sworn enemies of the United States.
I see. Bin Laden says we will be impoverished so we should give in to the Islamic fanatics right now.
| A FRENCH START FOR AMERICA Kerry / Edwards / bin Laden |
No Difference. They are BIN LADEN DEMOCRATS.
OBL will never see the U.S. go bankrupt. If the U.S. where to some how (which I don't see how) go bankrupt then the whole world would also be bankrupt. Put that in your pipe and smoke it OBL; you little man.
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