Bin Laden's Tacit Endorsement of Kerry

I know, I know: I'm supposed to believe that the real reason we have a terror problem is because of Bush aggression against Iraq. I'm not supposed to belive that John Kerry's statements against the war ("wrong war, wrong place, wrong time") have done anything to make us look weak in the world community or encouraged terrorists to try to divide and destroy our country. I'm also supposed to believe that Iraq was never a nexus of terror in the world. But when I read stories like the one below, I can't help but think John Kerry foolishly leads the terrorists on.

"New York Post. November 1, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden warned in his October Surprise video that he will be closely monitoring the state-by-state election returns in tomorrow's presidential race and will spare any state that votes against President Bush from being attacked, according to a new analysis of his statement.

The respected Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors and translates Arabic media and Internet sites, said initial translations of a key portion of bin Laden's video rant to the American people Friday night missed an ostentatious bid by the Saudi-born terror master to divide American voters and tilt the election towards Democratic challenger John Kerry.
MEMRI said radical Islamist commentators monitored over the Internet this past weekend also interpreted the key passage of bin Laden's diatribe to mean that any U.S. state that votes to elect Bush on Tuesday will be considered an 'enemy' and any state that votes for Kerry has 'chosen to make peace with us.'

The statement in question is when bin Laden said on the tape: 'Your security is up to you, and any state that does not toy with our security automatically guarantees its own security."

Not that he takes personal pleasure in it--I absolutely reject any statement to that effect. But when Kerry takes political advantage of the OBL tape like he did on Friday, one questions the extent to which his lack of patriotism as expressed in the early 70's and his anti-war voting record in Congress clouds his understanding of the dangers in our world.

Political and social division in our country is now and always has been the unintended consequence of self-aggrandizement. Not only are the ends unintended but the instigator of those ends can come from places not expected. Thankfully in this case, the American People will not put up with such petty terrorist statements. This will accrue to Bush's benefit not because of Kerry, but because of our heart as a people.

Here's the full story


UPDATE: Captain's Quarters Blog and Power Line have revealed that John Kerry has called Moqtada al-Sadr a "legitimate voice" in Iraqi politics. The political calculation of Kerry is shameless. He is not showing himself to be a leader. He is showing that his only desire is for power at any cost. And whether he intends it or not, that cost will be more American lives on American soil if he succeeds on Tuesday.


MORE UPDATES: INDC Journal Provides more evidence of Kerry's misunderstanding or neglect of the terror situation in the world.

Are you prepared to let Iran go nuclear?

"We have only one lesson: the lesson of Jihad and martyrdom. So, Dick Cheney, we will uproot the Anglo-Saxon race. This is retaliation. I will say this only once: we have 2 million Iranians there (in the US). You can be sure that I will recruit from among them guerillas against you. If 11 people succeeded in causing September 11, is it not clear that we are capable of acting? We don't need nuclear weapons. You have 6,000 warheads on your soil. Those 6,000 warheads are the target of our plans.
...
We've prepared plans concerning America's achille's heel and their weakness. We have identified all of their weaknesses on land, in the air, by sea.
...
We have organized a department that will take care of England. England's demise is on our agenda."

Do you comprehend the stakes?

I think we do Bill. Kerry is showing us in the last few days all by himself the reasons Bush and Republicans have been saying he is both ignorant and negligent of the terror problem around the world. Hopefully voters will see these examples clearly in these last hours before the polls close.