Bin Laden, States-Rightist?
The indispensible Middle East Media Research Institute has its own translation of the bin Laden video (at least the part of it that was aired). Since they are in the business of translating Arabic media, I trust them to be more accurate in this than the U.S. networks (despite the typo in the 6th paragraph).
This version has an interesting reading of the final paragraph, which is at variance from most of the ones I've read in the Western media:
Emphasis added, because apparently the Arabic term in question, “ay wilaya” has been misinterpreted in the West as “country” or “nation,” meaning a nation other than the U.S.
Elsewhere, MEMRI comments:
It seems as though Osama is taking these polling maps literally and seeing red and blue states as a genuine rift. I can't put my finger on the reference right now, but I'm sure I've read of an earlier bin Laden statement predicting the break-up of the United States.
As an aside, this is yet another Michael Moore echo. His notorious reaction to Sept. 11 was that the victims did not deserve to die. If someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him!
This version has an interesting reading of the final paragraph, which is at variance from most of the ones I've read in the Western media:
Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al-Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands, and any (US) state that does not belittle our security automatically guarantees its own security.
Emphasis added, because apparently the Arabic term in question, “ay wilaya” has been misinterpreted in the West as “country” or “nation,” meaning a nation other than the U.S.
Elsewhere, MEMRI comments:
The Islamist website Al-Qal’a explained what this sentence meant: “This message was a warning to every U.S. state separately. When he [Osama Bin Laden] said, ‘Every state will be determining its own security, and will be responsible for its choice,’ it means that any U.S. state that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as president has chosen to fight us, and we will consider it our enemy, and any state that will vote against Bush has chosen to make peace with us, and we will not characterize it as an enemy. By this characterization, Sheikh Osama wants to drive a wedge in the American body, to weaken it, and he wants to divide the American people itself between enemies of Islam and the Muslims, and those who fight for us, so that he doesn’t treat all American people as if they’re the same. This letter will have great implications inside the American society, part of which are connected to the American elections, and part of which are connected to what will come after the elections.”
It seems as though Osama is taking these polling maps literally and seeing red and blue states as a genuine rift. I can't put my finger on the reference right now, but I'm sure I've read of an earlier bin Laden statement predicting the break-up of the United States.
As an aside, this is yet another Michael Moore echo. His notorious reaction to Sept. 11 was that the victims did not deserve to die. If someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him!
