http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=3244 Revenge of the Mahdi
September 2 – a day to remember?
by Justin Raimondo
"It is true that George W. Bush's reelection campaign is helped, to a certain extent, by the perception of imminent danger, and that it makes Americans more reluctant to change horses in mid-stream. But that doesn't mean the terrorist threat isn't imminent, and that it's all a cynical ploy engineered by Karl Rove, the Machiavelli of the new millennium."
"The image of George W. Bush addressing the Republican national convention on Sept. 2, just as a few more "iconic" American buildings go up in flames, is more fodder for the kneejerk scoffers, who see everything in terms of the election. But that date has significance other than in terms of American politics: September 2 is also the 106th anniversary of the Battle of Omdurman, which marked the triumph of the British in the Sudan over an army of Islamic fundamentalists known as Mahdists. It is an anniversary fraught with significance for Osama bin Laden and his followers worldwide: the history behind it illustrates both the nature of the threat we face and the inability of the U.S. to effectively confront it."