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If I am to believe the translation on CNN.com, Osama has co-opted US political rhetoric, specifically regarding freedom and security, and has vehemently attacked Bush father and son, as well as their administrations, for providing neither. By including events from 1982 and Israel's invasion of Lebanon, he also implicates the Reagan administration. He remained silent about the Clinton administration this time around, though. I don't wonder why: while he isn't rooting for any particular candidate, his words put him squarely in the ABB camp.
But that's the key: they are just words. Whether we can trust his sincerity in claiming to value freedom and security, especially where the US is concerned, is indeed debatable. But we cannot doubt the implicit threat contained in his warning to us that our security is in our own hands, not those of our leaders. He's holding off until after Election Day to see which way the wind blows, and if a Kerry administration brings more of the same to the Middle East, we can expect more of what he brought us three years ago.
In his effort to spin history, Osama got the chronology mixed up. He attributes the Patriot Act to Poppy's administration. Just check the translation on CNN.com, and you'll see it mixed in with events from Bush 41's time. This oversight, as well as his highly selective version of history designed to justify the actions leading to 9/11, leads me to believe that he's setting us up for something. Regardless of how voters choose, they will choose wrong, and so will vindicate Osama's harsh idea of justice on the US in the all-too-near future.
As I read Osama's words, I was reminded of Satan quoting the Bible in Milton's "Paradise Lost." It's a sad day when our enemies know more about our freedoms and security than our leaders care to. I hope Kerry will prove Osama wrong, take our words back, and give them meaning again.
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