See ! I knew there was sumthin' admirable about him, even though he was who he was ! <g>
This is what I was really afraid of ... Message 16468492
dawn.com
Osama's speech hits right chord in Middle East
CAIRO, Oct 8: When Osama bin Laden addressed the world from his Afghan hideout on satellite TV, he appeared to some a master of manipulation and to others like a prophet who had seen the light.
Shortly after US-led strikes on Afghanistan targets began on Sunday, a videotaped statement beamed across the globe showed the Saudi-born condemning Washington and its Middle East policies, praising those who attacked America and calling on Muslims to rise up and defend their faith.
Some analysts said Osama's carefully orchestrated performance, touching on all the key themes which find resonance among those who feel oppressed by the United States, proved what a manipulator he is. But to many in the Islamic world, he just spoke from the heart, saying what they feel but are afraid to express.
"If there had been a referendum yesterday in the Arab world (on Osama's performance), he would have got 99 percent," said Walid Kazziha, a political science professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC). "It gave me goosebumps," said an Arab photographer in Kuwait who saw the footage of the bearded Osama dressed in fatigues with an assault rifle by this side. "I have never in my life heard somebody pledge such conviction and determination."
STRIKING THE CHORD: In his first public comments since the Sept 11 attacks, the world's most wanted man taunted "infidel" US President George W. Bush and said the United States would not live in peace until Palestinians could do the same. He called on Muslims to defend their religion and expressed support for the airliner attacks on New York and Washington.
The speech was peppered with religious references and buzzwords, homing in on the image of infidel killers who "toyed with the blood, honour and sanctities of Muslims"."There are lots of people who will have felt (been moved by) some of those words, like 'infidel', and the dichotomic view of the world in terms of good and evil. It is the mirror image, turned on its head, of US statements (about a fight of good versus evil)," said Philip Robins, Middle East specialist at Oxford University.
"A lot of people will find that these words struck a chord, that there was resonance," he said. Mustafa Alani, a Middle East consultant at the Royal Institute for Defence Studies in London, said the statement was designed to touch both Osama's supporters and ordinary Arabs in the street.
"He is a first-class speaker. He is a deep believer. He left millions of dollars to live in a cave. That tells you about the depth of his belief in what he is doing. This certainly comes across in his statement. People believe him more than any Arab leader," Alani said.
SAYING IT LOUD: Analysts said Osama's speech, taped in a rugged mountain setting, was clearly designed to show the contrast between him and the US and Arab leaders he despises. "It seemed to be a very short statement. It was very different from the kind of speeches you usually get from Arab leaders that tend to go on and on, full of high-flown rhetoric and rambling. Maybe it was intelligent and sophisticated for being less," Robins said.
Alani said Osama sought to represent exactly the opposite of the "image of somebody in the White House wearing an Italian suit, telling people what is right and what is wrong. The absolute contrast to that is someone with a beard, who lives in a cave, who is a very rich man who leaves everything behind for his cause".
Kazziha said many Arabs agreed with Osama's belief the United States had overstayed its welcome in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, trampled on Muslim sensitivities and humiliated Arabs for decades while coddling Israel.
"He came through as very honest, expressing the inner feeling of the people...He not only said what was in the people's hearts, but he probably spoke in the tongue of many of those in power too. I think his appeal was enormous," the AUC's Kazziha said. Robins noted bin Laden's brief and punchy speech also revealed he was media savvy.
"TV stations all over the world like statements which are pithy and to the point. This was a statement to be broadcast again and again, which wouldn't have been the case with a long speech," he said.
Alani said it was important that bin Laden had spoken last on the videotape, after two disciples in his al-Qaeda network. "It's important that he was the last one, because people remember the last one who spoke, they will remember Osama bin Laden."-Reuters |
