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Sun 4 Apr, 2004 09:52 am
http://www.freetimes.com/modules.php? op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1269
When the Madrid train bombings were followed a few weeks ago by Spain's electorate throwing out its existing leadership in favor of one which had vowed to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq, all kinds of speculation arose as to how Al Qaeda ?- which was behind the bombings ?- would be emboldened to influence elections in other countries.
Underlying these concerns in America was the conventional wisdom that Osama and the boys might try something big before our November election because they desperately want to flush George Bush out of office. Well, once again conventional wisdom is wrong, since it's hard to imagine Al Qaeda having a better friend in the White House than George W. ?- a man who seems to have been playing right into bin Laden's hands since taking office in January 2001.
One of the first things Bush did after his inauguration was to send a clear message to Ariel Sharon's Likkud government that he would not interfere with any aggressive action Israel might take toward the Palestinians. By giving Sharon the green light, Bush reversed Clinton's policy of diplomacy and signaled to the Islamic world that there was a new sheriff in town ?- one who could care less about being an honest broker for Mideast peace, and as a result, became an invaluable recruitment tool for the Islamic fundamentalists' jihad machine.
Here at home, the Bush administration's top defense priority was reviving Reagan's bizarre Star Wars missile defense system, so they paid scant attention to the warnings by the outgoing Clinton administration that terrorism was the nation's number-one threat. Thus, when the greatest domestic tragedy in our country's history happened on Bush's watch, he could do little more than yell "let's roll" through a megaphone while his apologists tried to blame Clinton for the fact that W. was asleep at the wheel before 9/11.
Shortly thereafter, and with practically the entire world united behind America, the Taliban was quickly overthrown in Afghanistan and Osama was on the run, being hunted like a dog by an unprecedented global coalition. We had both might and right on our side, basking simultaneously in the world's heartfelt sympathy and its unwavering desire to follow our lead anywhere.
Well, almost anywhere. And here's where Al Qaeda received an Allah-send from Bush, one which earned W. their undying devotion. Buoyed by his neocon advisors' fanatical obsession with Iraq and fueled by a lingering filial desire to take care of his father's unfinished business, Bush turned the world's attention away from pursuing 9/11's perpetrators and, astonishingly, decided to spend almost all of his immense political capital and most of this nation's military resources to invade Iraq.
In order to pull off this curious caper, Bush trumped up the case for WMD inside Iraq and manufactured the existence of a strong tie between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Still unable to convince most of the world of his case, Bush proceeded ?- while touting his born-again Christian bona fides and characterizing his effort a "crusade"?- to unilaterally invade and occupy a Muslim country, an imperialistic action which could resonate negatively in the Arab world for 100 years.
So, if Al Qaeda's goal was to totally isolate America ?- along with Israel ?- as the number-one enemy of Islam, Bush helped them accomplish this. And since Bush had destroyed the post-9/11 coalition, Al Qaeda was also safer to go forth and multiply in this now-splintered world. Even Iraq, which Al Qaeda had been unable to penetrate with the tyrannical Saddam at the helm, was turned into a haven and breeding ground for
terrorists.
And since Bush misled the world about his reasons for invading Iraq, it has now become more difficult for him to make any new case for global co-operation against Al Qaeda. With America having gutted its own credibility and with its troops flooding into Iraq, Bush provided Al Qaeda with a dream-come-true gift: a gigantic, red-white-and-blue target for Islamic rage that drew the world's attention away from the pursuit of Osama.
That's why the last thing Al Qaeda would want is someone in the White House who might be able to unite world leaders in a co-operative effort to eradicate terrorism; someone who could reclaim the trust and confidence of the American people and inspire a spirit of determined unity; someone who might be willing to do the hard, often thankless, work necessary for a possible peace between Israel and Palestine; someone who might be able to alleviate the palpable hatred pulsing throughout many parts of the world from Bush's arrogant unilateralism and saber-rattling; and someone who hasn't been such a witless enabler for the kind of radical Islamic fundamentalism that threatens global peace and freedom.
Since the Bush presidency has proved to be a win-win proposition for Al Qaeda, should any of their operatives sneak across our borders for any nefarious purpose this year, it will be to vote for George W. on November 2, 2004.
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