A Zionist war on Islam?

Bin Laden Accuses U.S. of 'War on Islam'

CAIRO, Egypt Apr 23, 2006 (AP)— Osama bin Laden issued new threats in an audiotape broadcast on Arab television Sunday and accused the United States and Europe of supporting a "Zionist" war on Islam by cutting off funds to the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

He also urged followers to go to Sudan, his former base, to fight a proposed U.N. peacekeeping force.

His words, the first new message by the al-Qaida leader in three months, seemed designed to justify potential attacks on civilians something al-Qaida has been criticized for even by its Arab supporters.

He also appeared to be trying to drum up support among Arabs by accusing the West of targeting Hamas, a militant group that fights against Israel and now heads the Palestinian government.

Citing the West's decision to cut off aid to the Hamas-led government because it refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel, bin Laden said Washington and Europe were waging war on Islam.

"The blockade which the West is imposing on the government of Hamas proves that there is a Zionist, crusaders' war on Islam," bin Laden said....

Israeli government spokesman Raanan Gissin said it appeared bin Laden decided to issue the verbal assault to deflect growing Arab animosity toward al-Qaida....

Bob Ayers, a security expert with the Chatham House think tank in London, said the tape may be bin Laden's way of playing cat-and-mouse with those hunting him.

"It's when people have kind of forgotten about him, when he's not been on the news, that the tapes emerge," Ayers said. "It's kind of his way of thumbing his nose at the U.S. and saying, 'Hey, I'm still out here, and you haven't caught me and you can't.' That's what he's saying."

Osama's latest message is like a criminal blaming policemen for being in prison; apparently it didn't matter that the criminal is incarcerated because he committed a crime, not merely because law enforcement caught him. Osama's excuse is like when Japan accused the U.S. of provocation when, in fact, the U.S. oil embargo was a response to purely unprovoked Japanese aggression in Asia. Forgive me for appealing to a little logic here, but is there the tiniest possibility that Israel cut off funds to the Palestinian government because the latter happens to be comprised of thugs? And as I pointed out at the end of my satire, there's no difference between Fatah and Hamas, even after Arafat (may he be roasting in hell with Khomeini) died a pitifully easy death.

Now let's look at how Salah Nasrawi, the reporter, phrased something so curiously: "seemed designed to justify potential attacks on civilians..." I guess Nasrawi (whose name is as Arab as you can get) doesn't count the mass murder of 9/11 as "potential attacks on civilians." Perhaps "civilian" to him doesn't include non-Muslims? Besides, since when did Osama or his butchers ever care about who they killed? It's not even a matter of killing Christians and Jews: they will even murder fellow Muslims. These are the real cowards, no matter what Bill Maher likes to think.

Israel's government spokesman is likely correct. It's a classic ploy of tyrants, or wannabe tyrants, to distract the people by channelling their anger toward fictitious enemies. "We have always been at war with Eurasia." If Osama didn't energize so many Islamofascists into fighting the mythical monster of "the West," then enough reasonable people across the Middle East might wake up someday and realize the religious dictatorships that enslave them. Similarly, if Americans had any concept of the ticking time bomb of Social Security and Medicare, they'd be protesting in far greater numbers than those taking to the streets about illegal immigration. Illegal immigration, though, is almost a red herring in that politicians can seize on it, spend weeks in deadlock, and divert our attention from more important issues.

And Ayers is correct: Osama is old news, but his ego won't allow him to stay silent. What Ayers doesn't understand is that the U.S. doesn't care anymore about capturing Osama. The putz has long since been neutralized, running from cave to cave just like Saddam ran from house to house. As I wrote last month, the Democrats are fools to think we should send in so many men and so much equipment for just one man. We need only apply a little pressure to keep Osama checked, and right now it's not important to capture him. He's in no position to plan, command and coordinate, not like before he went on the run. It's the fact that he wields such little power now that, for the sake of his ego, he must release messages every so often in the hope that Western countries, and his own followers too, still consider him a threat.