Has the Leopard Changed His Spots? Osama bin Laden, the Democrats, and the Mainstream Media

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

Winston Churchill – As quoted by Jay Dyson (July, 2005)

Osama Bin Laden has extended an olive branch. In an audiotape released this morning by Aljazeera, the world’s terror czar had this to say to America:

“In response to the substance of the polls in the US, which indicate that Americans do not want to fight Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their land, we do not mind offering a long-term truce based on just conditions that we will stick to.”

“We are a nation that Allah banned from lying and stabbing others in the back, hence both parties of the truce will enjoy stability and security to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, which were destroyed by war.”

“There is no problem in this solution, but it will prevent hundreds of billions from going to influential people and warlords in America - those who supported Bush's electoral campaign - and from this, we can understand Bush and his gang's insistence on continuing the war.”

Upon reading the statement it was clear to me that Osama was playing to his base. He was just picking up where John Murtha, Howard Dean, and Nancy Pelosi had left off.

In November, for example, Representative Murtha proposed that we:

“Immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces. Create a quick reaction force in the region.Create an over- the- horizon presence of Marines. Diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq”

A few days after the Murtha proposal House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi gave it her seal of approval:

“We should follow the lead of Congressman John Murtha, who has put forth a plan to make American safer, to make our military stronger and to make Iraq more stable,” Pelosi said. “That is what the American people and our troops deserve.”

Then in December Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean weighed in:

“The idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong,” Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.”

It makes me wonder whether or not some influential Democrats are puppets hanging from Osama’s propaganda strings or whether it’s the other way around. It’s hard to tell since the parties are dancing so close to one another.

Osama’s tried this tactic before. A few days before the 2004 presidential election he came out of his cave long enough to lecture American voters:

“It is true that this shows that al-Qaeda has gained, but on the other hand, it shows that the Bush administration has also gained, something of which anyone who looks at the size of the contracts acquired by the shady Bush administration-linked mega-corporations, like Halliburton and its kind, will be convinced. And it all shows that the real loser is ... you.”

“It is the American people and their economy. And for the record, we had agreed with the Commander-General Muhammad Ataa, Allah have mercy on him, that all the operations should be carried out within 20 minutes, before Bush and his administration notice.”

“It never occurred to us that the commander-in-chief of the American armed forces would abandon 50,000 of his citizens in the twin towers to face those great horrors alone, the time when they most needed him.” “But because it seemed to him that occupying himself by talking to the little girl about the goat and its butting was more important than occupying himself with the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers, we were given three times the period required to execute the operations - all praise is due to Allah.”

“And it's no secret to you that the thinkers and perceptive ones from among the Americans warned Bush before the war and told him: “All that you want for securing America and removing the weapons of mass destruction - assuming they exist - is available to you, and the nations of the world are with you in the inspections, and it is in the interest of America that it not be thrust into an unjustified war with an unknown outcome.”

“But the darkness of the black gold blurred his vision and insight, and he gave priority to private interests over the public interests of America.”

Upon reading the statement I found it difficult to ascertain whether Osama had plagiarized from the Democrats’ playbook or whether their statements on Iraq and the War on Terror were plagiarized from his.

A while ago I listened to a bit of Scott McClellan’s press briefing. It appears that some in the mainstream media are now taking up Osama’s cause along with the Democrats. When questioned about the tape, the press secretary told the media point blank that the United States doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. John Roberts of CBS News and Martha Raditz of ABC News focused on the negative poll numbers bin Laden cited in his blurb, forwarding the insane notion that Osama just might be right and it’s time to pack it in.

This all demonstrates how cagey Osama is. He needs allies in high places and has found some in Washington, D.C. and America’s newsrooms.

The cynical side of me says that we should entertain the proposal. We should send Murtha, Dean, Pelosi, Roberts, and Raditz as emissaries to Tora Bora with white flags. Perhaps they could discuss, and agree to, bin Laden’s terms for surrender over a bit of fattoush. If they couldn’t come to terms we here in Emporia, Kansas might be willing to pay the airfare for Patrick Kelley, another closet admirer of Osama, to go and swing the scales in favor of Al Qaeda. When it’s all said and done they can jointly nominate Osama for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Cynicism aside, though, I know we can’t let that happen. Some Democrats and some in the mainstream media might think it’s a splendid idea, but the overwhelming majority of us don’t. We know that despite the propaganda campaign to make himself as a peacemaker, Osama is a leopard whose spots haven’t changed. The same murder that filled his heart in 1998 is on his mind today. Do you remember what he had to say back then? I’ll refresh your memory:

“The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies--civilians and military--is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, “and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together,” and “fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God.”

Do you remember what he had to say less than a month after the September 11th attacks? I’ll refresh your memory:

“I want to talk on another point, that those youths who did what they did and destroyed America with their airplanes did a good deed. They have moved the battle into the heart of America. America must know that the battle will not leave its land, God willing, until America leaves our land, until it stops supporting Israel, until it stops the blockade against Iraq.”

“The Americans must know that the storm of airplanes will not stop, God willing, and there are thousands of young people who are as keen about death as Americans are about life.”

Do you know what the intentions of Osama bin Laden’s followers are? I’ll refresh your memory:

“Instead of just searching for criminals, the night patrols were instructed to seek out people watching videos, playing cards or, bizarrely, keeping caged birds. Men without long enough beards were to be arrested, as was any woman who dared venture outside her house. Even owning a kite became a criminal offence.”

“The state of terror spread by the Taliban was so pervasive that it began to seem as if the whole country was spying on each other. “As we drove around at night with our guns, local people would come to us and say there's someone watching a video in this house or some men playing cards in that house,” he said.”

“Basically any form of pleasure was outlawed,” Mr. Hassani said, “and if we found people doing any of these things we would beat them with staves soaked in water - like a knife cutting through meat - until the room ran with their blood or their spines snapped. Then we would leave them with no food or water in rooms filled with insects until they died.”

“We always tried to do different things: we would put some of them standing on their heads to sleep, hang others upside down with their legs tied together. We would stretch the arms out of others and nail them to posts like crucifixions.”

While Murtha, Dean, Pelosi, Roberts, and Raditz may be prepared to wave the white flag, the rest of America isn’t. Most of us recognize what we’re up against. Most of us see Osama bin Laden for what he his – a terrorist, a liar, a vile human being. He may have some adoring fans in high places, but the rest of us are prepared to see this battle through. We’ll get him. We’ll either kill him or bring him before the bar of justice. As the President said in 2001:

“These terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful, retreating from the world and forsaking our friends. They stand against us, because we stand in their way.”

“We are not deceived by their pretenses to piety. We have seen their kind before. They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions -- by abandoning every value except the will to power -- they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.”