translation of the portion of the purported Usama bin Laden audiotape aired on the Al Jazeera network:
…God has prevented us from lying and betraying. You can give us this truce so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan that you have destroyed.
…Our situation is getting better and better and your situation is getting worse and worse.
…The reason why we didn't have any such an operation in the United States is not because of security difficulties; the operation will take place and you will see such operations by the grace of God and by the will of God.
…I propose a long-term truce that will give the two sides stability and security.
And this is the most important, most diligent solution as a result of which there will be no losses.
I think that he made a fool out of us. The mighty USA can't find one guy, but decides to become freedom fighters for Iraq instead.
Of course we are there now and we need to finish the job, however I am still confused on how Saddam Hussein is connected to the twin towers.
6 comments:
From Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard:
"The former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein trained thousands of radical Islamic terrorists from the region at camps in Iraq over the four years immediately preceding the U.S. invasion, according to documents and photographs recovered by the U.S. military in postwar Iraq...
"Many of the fighters were drawn from terrorist groups in northern Africa with close ties to al Qaeda..."
By the way, that information was gleaned from less than 3 percent of the intelligence gathered in Iraq & Afghanistan over the last few years. What might we find in the other 97 percent?
One thing I meant to add:
Is this definitite proof that Saddam Hussein was involved in Sept. 11? Certainly not. But it's significant enough to warrant some consideration of the claim, rather than a blanket denial of any link.
excellent points, thank you
The mistake people make is assuming that "supporting terrorists" must mean "played an active role in planning and support the 9/11 attack."
There is no reason to believe Saddam played an active role in 9/11. But the Global War on Terror isn't just about getting revenge. It's about preventing the next 9/11 from happening.
While Saddam was not part of the Osama Bin Laden inner circle that planned and carried out the 9/11 attacks, he is without doubt a supporter of terrorist activity in general and probably provided indirect support to Bin Laden--support that may have at a minimum helped Bin Laden further his goals.
Saddam has been the primary funding source of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad in the Middle East. He has paid rewards to families of suicide bombers for killing Jews. And, even without having found stockpiles of WMDs, was clearly using his resources to further WMD capability that could have eventually been used by terrorists against the U.S.
Was he an "imminent threat"? No. But can we afford to let a nation that has both the potential to develop WMDs and a record for supporting terrorist activity around the world (not to mention a record of actively firing on U.S. peacekeepers in the region on a regular basis during the 11 years following Desert Storm!) evolve into an imminent threat? Before 9/11, people might have said yes. But after 9/11, we now know that we must err on the side of national defense.
Had we left Saddam to his own devices, he surely would be actively working on WMDs right now. After all, his enemy Iran is doing just that, and Saddam would want to be able to strike against Iran. We could not afford to let him further his WMD capability--just as we must now stop Iran.
Sounds like Usama bin Laden (if it really even is him) is trying to get a spot on the David Letterman show.
The real WMD is the strength in their numbers and resolve. The terrorist regime doesn't need one or two big weapons, they need a million little ones. As long as they continue to grow, their WMD will be a threat.
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