Quoting bin Laden

By Dee Newman

Quoting a message allegedly sent from Osama bin Laden in March of 2008, Senator McCain has tried numerous times to convince the American people that “the central battleground in the war against al-Qaeda is in Iraq,” inferring adamantly that if bin Laden says it is, then it must be so.

In her debate with Senator Biden, McCain’s running-mate also tried to use bin Laden’s words to convince us that the “central war on terror is in Iraq” and not Afghanistan.

“You don't have to believe me or John McCain on that,” Governor Palin asserted, “ . . . believe . . . the leader of al Qaeda.”

My question to Senator McCain and Governor Palin is – when did bin Laden become the “bearer of truth” for them?

It seems obvious to me the reason bin Laden wants us to continue to focus our attention in Iraq (where al-Qaeda never existed until we began our occupation of Iraq) is because (one) it is easier and cheaper to kill Americans there than it is to travel half-way around the world and kill them here. And, (two) bin Laden would rather have us spending our time and Treasury in Iraq than using it going after him in Afghanistan.

Quoting bin Laden to justify the war in Iraq not only gives him credibility, it reinforces and justifies bin Laden’s belief that he has the power to influence and manipulate the domestic and foreign policy of the United States.

In November of 2004 bin Laden told us that his goal was to “bleed America to the point of bankruptcy.” He went on to say that he had found it easy “to provoke and bait” the Bush administration and that America would suffer major human and economic losses while Bush’s buddies would rake in enormous profits.

Sadly, it seems, under a McCain/Palin administration the “bleeding“ would continue, unabated.