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Politics : I Will Continue to Continue, to Pretend.... -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (17259)	1/19/2006 4:47:51 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 35834

Osama’s Terms Austin Bay Blog Essentially, the new Bin Laden tape says “please don’t wage war on our turf, but let us wage war on yours.” Bringing the War on Terror to the center of the politically dysfunctional Muslim world is absolutely key to obtaining the long term victory Americans expect and the world deserves. Osama’s terms: <<< “We do not mind offering you a long-term truce with fair conditions that we adhere to,” he said. “We are a nation that God has forbidden to lie and cheat. So both sides can enjoy security and stability under this truce so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan, which have been destroyed in this war. “There is no shame in this solution, which prevents the wasting of billions of dollars that have gone to those with influence and merchants of war in America,” he said. >>> This link has more. dailynews.att.net austinbay.net

To: Sully- who wrote (17259)	1/19/2006 6:36:07 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 35834

Given his isolation, bin Laden could be excused for believing that he's just one Congressional election away from salvation. Bin Laden's Ray of Hope Power Line When bin Laden appeared last October, he was trying to influence our Presidential election. As we pointed out at the time, his video was drawn largely from Fahrenheit 911, and it accurately reflected the American left's talking points. While the television reception where bin Laden is hiding isn't very good, someone obviously feeds him information gained from Western media. Once again, bin Laden's familiarity with Western news media is reflected in the latest audiotape: <<< [W]hat prompted me to speak are the repeated fallacies of your President Bush in his comment on the outcome of US opinion polls, which indicated that the overwhelming majority of you want the withdrawal of the forces from Iraq, but he objected to this desire and said that the withdrawal of troops would send the wrong message to the enemy. Bush said: It is better to fight them on their ground than they fighting us on our ground. In my response to these fallacies, I say: The war in Iraq is raging and operations in Afghanistan are on the rise in our favour, praise be to God. The Pentagon figures indicate the rise in the number of your dead and wounded, let alone the huge material losses. To go back to where I started, I say that the results of the poll satisfy sane people and that Bush's objection to them is false. Reality testifies that the war against America and its allies has not remained confined to Iraq, as he claims. In fact, Iraq has become a point of attraction and recruitment of qualified resources. Based on the above, we see that Bush's argument is false. However, the argument that he avoided, which is the substance of the results of opinion polls on withdrawing the troops, is that it is better not to fight the Muslims on their land and for them not to fight us on our land. >>> It doesn't take a genius to see that things are going very badly for bin Laden and al Qaeda. Where does he turn for hope? To American opinion polls--which, of course, he reads very selectively. Still, think how encouraging it must be to him to read about calls for withdrawal from Iraq by Congressmen like Jack Murtha. It's hard to see much daylight between Murtha's position and bin Laden's: we're losing in Iraq; the American people are tired of the conflict; Iraq is a breeding ground for terrorists; and al Qaeda is less likely to attack us if we just give up and go home. Given his isolation, bin Laden could be excused for believing that he's just one Congressional election away from salvation. powerlineblog.com powerlineblog.com

To: Sully- who wrote (17259)	1/20/2006 1:23:03 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 35834

SQUEAKS FROM A RAT HOLE NEW YORK POST Editorial January 20, 2006 Osama bin Laden emerged from his rat hole long enough to release yet an other tape in which he taunts America. But beneath all the bluster, invective and threats may reside some real news: It seems that the evil Osama wants to sue for peace. OK, the key word here is "seems." While the tape appears to be authentic, what Osama means — as opposed to what he says — is subject to interpretation. He boasted yet again that a new attack "is being prepared and you'll see it in your homeland very soon." (If nothing else, that's a reminder that bin Laden has been unable to mount another attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.) But he also made this offer: "We do not mind establishing a long-term truce between us and you, based on just conditions," adding that "both parties of the truce will enjoy stability and security to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan." Whatever happened to the terrorist leader who was going to wipe the Great Satan from the face of the earth? Following this week's U.S. airstrikes in Pakistan — which killed four or five top al Qaeda terrorists — it sounds like someone is desperate to show the jihadists that he's still in charge. But Osama's offer appears to show the wisdom — and the success — of President Bush's policies in fighting the War on Terror. As White House spokesman Scott McClellan noted yesterday, an estimated two-thirds of al Qaeda, including major leaders, has been eliminated by U.S. military efforts. Moreover, al Qaeda and its surrogates in the Iraqi terrorist insurgency are coming under increased attack in the Muslim world for having killed and maimed so many Iraqi civilians. Indeed, the insurgents have long been battling Sunni Muslims in Iraq as much as they are the U.S.-led Coalition. Which could be another reason why Osama would try to convince the world that he's running a kinder, gentler al Qaeda (even as his fellow terrorists are threatening to behead a Christian Science Monitor journalist). In fact, no one in Iraq seems to be listening much to Osama: His last recording, made in late 2004, called on Iraqis to boycott a national election — that is, three wildly successful national plebiscites ago. Bin Laden has offered a "truce" before, of course — but never to America. The European governments who got the last offer, in April 2004, turned it down cold. Osama apparently thinks the American public will be more responsive, given that "the majority of your people want this war to end and opinion polls show the Americans do not want to fight the Muslims on Muslim land." President Bush, he said, "tried to ignore the polls that demanded that he end the war in Iraq." (Who writes his stuff — Howard Dean? John Murtha? Sure sounds like it.) Indeed, he assured Americans he can be trusted to carry out his "truce," because "we are a nation that Allah banned from lying and stabbing others in the back." (But not, apparently, from committing mass murder.) Yes, al Qaeda may, in fact, still be capable of further attacks. Certainly it proved as much in Madrid and London. But this latest tape makes Osama sound a little, well, desperate. Contrary to what President Bush's critics suggest, the War on Terror is winnable — and it is being won. And it will continue to be prosecuted. As Scott McClellan rightly promised yesterday: "We do not negotiate with terrorists — we put them out of business." nypost.com