Posted February 14, 2003

Regarding 'One Battlefield, Two Wars' by Justin Raimondo:

Truly the newspeak George Orwell predicted.

I checked the CNN web poll and 55% of the respondents think that the tape links Al Qaida and Iraq. If Big Brother says A is not A then A is not A.

Thanks Justin, At least I know that some folks out there are still
sane.

~ Jim Lupton, Ann Arbor, Michigan

I listened to the entire speech in Arabic straight out of Al-Jazeera on-line services. OBL supports the Iraqi people, whom he feels are victims of tyranny whether they are socialists or not. He does, with no uncertain terms, call for the overthrowing of Saddam. His acrimony for Saddam is obvious.

~ Hashim Alhussaini, Washington, D.C.

This is very helpful analysis, but what I don't understand is why everyone so far is so willing to believe that the audio tape is genuine. Previous audiotapes have been shown to be dubious if not outright forgeries when subjected to independent analysis (usually several weeks after their news sell-by date has expired). Any tape that is released, or even anticipated, by a department of war (in this case Powell's), at a time of war, must be considered, by definition, a component part of a propaganda strategy. I am very suspicious of the appearance of this tape, at this time. I note that at first Al Jazeera denied having any such tape, yet then ran it. I have increasingly wondered about the coincidence of location of Al Jazeera and of the new U.S. command center in the Middle East, namely, Qatar.

~ Oliver Boyd-Barrett

We need a T.V. station that does nothing but report the untruths being reported by the likes of Fox, MSNBC and CNN.

~ Rick A. Lee

What I found curious about the Bin Laden taped message is the Arab countries to which he refers: "the same goes for the governments of Yemen, Pakistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria, and any other regional 'stooges' of the US"

Al Jazeera is based in Qatar which, in addition to the other Gulf countries, is "bursting at the seams" with American troops and yet, Bin Laden refers to these other Arab countries as "stooges of America" who are doing, their best to avert a war and resist US pressure to use them as bases from which to launch an attack.

It is not a secret that Qatar and Jordan have strained relations due to Al Jazeera.

Bin Laden, it would seem, picks and chooses which "stooges" he holds in contempt. Curiouser and curiouser.

~ N. Zaqqa

It must be more than a coincidence that whenever US intelligence and propaganda services are in need of a pretext or a cause celebre: up pops bin Laden. When there was a need for an Islamic purist to galvanize the Afghan mujahadeen against the godless Soviets: bin Laden answered the call. He was made to order for the CIA's grand design to destabilize the Soviet Union as a whole by instigating ethnic separatism in all of the Central Asian republics spurred on by Islamic fervor.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the huge oil reserves of the Caspian basin suddenly came within the grasp of American oil companies. Years of bargaining with the Taliban for a route through Afghanistan for that oil broke down with no results. Only an unprecedented event could provide America with a cause celebre of sufficient magnitude to warrant taking by force what could not be acquired through negotiations. And sure enough, bin Laden provided that with 9/11.

When the US was attempting a couple of months ago to bring Russia and Western Europe into the fold, out of nowhere came a new bin Laden tape equating Iraq's struggle to survive with Chechnya's war against Russia and calling for terrorist attacks in all of Europe! Obviously, the French, Germans and Russians were not swayed by this tape and remain firmly against any attack on Iraq.

Now that the US needs again to prove a link between Saddam Hussein an al Qaida; wouldn't you know it: Osama rears his ugly head, or voice, to be more precise, and a new tape is aired claiming his great solidarity with the Iraqi people! How convenient!

~ Stanley Laham

What else we can expect from the media? ...We all know that these reporters and editors are incompetents, as the British officials who just copied an old paper from a graduate student to prepare an intelligence report about Iraq. I mean, who are these people trying to cheat? We are not stupid!

Where are the professionals, the CIA guys? It seems that this administration is managed by amateurs. I have the sense that the professionals and career officials from the US and British governments have been put aside and they are not collaborating in this imbroglio.

I am oppose to Empire building enterprises but I am really shock by the incompetence of Mr. Rumsfeld and his partners. There are much better and efficient ways for Empire building if you really want to do it. Furthermore, we can not defeat extremist Islamism with this strategy, the contrary they are just getting stronger.

The Western civilization and America deserve better leaders.

~ E.K., Lima, Peru

I usually love your articles and while you do have some very valid points I didn't really care for the title: "Bush and Bin Laden: Brothers in battle against Ba'athist Iraq."

Bin Laden is against a tyrant dictator who tortures Muslims in his own country, I am totally opposed to the war in Iraq. But I, like bin Laden, believe that Saddam Hussein and other Arab dictators have to go. Bush and his crew want to put a puppet in. But if you let the people of Iraq have their way they would vote for an Islamic candidate just like the Algerians did in 1992. You should do some reading on this matter – John L. Espisito is a good source a very good book called. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? Well, yes, it has become reality only because the West and the East ... (Russia) have not recognized the Muslims' rights to self-determination. I do find your articles very interesting but ... you seem to take a very pro-Serb stance, and a very pro-Russian stance in respect to Bosnia and Chechnya. I see a total contradiction with that and what your site's name – Antiwar.com – implies. ...

~ Nicholas Moore

Regarding 'Misleading the Public' by Firas Al-Atraqchi:

Are we to believe the words of an international terrorist leader? When we can't really trust our own politicians to tell the truth, how can we trust our sworn enemy who caused the deaths of so many of our citizens?

Saddam et. al. and bin Laden et. Al. both should be burned for their acts. I don't give a damn what they say about each other. The burning should have occurred within days of 9/11. In fact, it should have occurred decades earlier.

One cannot achieve safety and maintain freedom by appeasement in any form. Thugs are thugs and should be treated as such. They have no honor and a positive out come of negotiation is not possible. The worst thing to do is feed and arm them no matter what the stated intent. Any initiation of force on their part should be answered with their total destruction without delay. Any threat from them, however small, should be made impossible for them to carry out also without delay. If the free people of the world had that as their consistent policy, the wars and massive death and destruction of the last century would not have happened.

As it is, we have a serious example of codependency between our politicians and our enemies. Our politicians gain power by allowing our enemies to continue to exist. Our enemies gain power from the empty posturing of our politicians. We lose both freedom and safety as a consequence.

~ Lionell K. Griffith

Firas Al-Atraqchi replies:

We lose both freedom and safety if we rush to violence. Human history has shown that a rush to violence only ensures further outgrowth of violence a few years later.

The Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa in Sept. 2001 is no longer discussed by mainstream media. However, this is the core issue: nations need to address one another with no arrogance, no presumption of superiority, and on equal footing.

By applying the law of the jungle that might makes right, we risk being absorbed and subdued by that jungle.

When you ask if we are to believe in the words of a terrorist, you should also ask why so much focus and importance has been given to this notice? Why has the Bush administration refused and reneged on its commitment to wiping him out and refrained from mentioning him since July of last year only to allow this widespread message of his to be broadcast? Hypocrisy? Malintent? Questions that beggar answers.

If the people of the world were to have it their way, as you say, yes, I concur with you that wars would be a thing of the past. Unfortunately, politics has not yet matured to the level of popular understanding.

As for burning Saddam, that is not the question. It is not Saddam that will burn in Iraq but innocent people, women and children who have suffered not only under him but under 12 years of a barbaric sanctions regime unlike any the world has ever seen. Now, with the Bush imperative, insult will be added to injury. I find that idea revolting.

The forefathers of the great American nation feared the hegemony of despots; they just fought one in England, King George. They were not about to establish a nation that could be weakened by a leader with too much power. Therefore, they made it fundamental to the US constitution that dissent and debate be not only tolerated, but indeed encouraged.

Hearing opposite viewpoints, debating, listening, being compassionate will only ensure that freedom and security endure. I close with the following:

"The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing. Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the characters and conduct of their rulers."
~ John Adams

"The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure."
~ Thomas Jefferson

Thanks for writing and God bless.

Regarding 'YellowTimes.org Shut Down!' by Firas Al-Atraqchi:

Sooner or later, I see that the Internet will be policed just like the people of the US, with a boot to the neck. Please keep up the good work that you are doing.

~ Bob Brawders, Simi Valley, California

The Nazi-like tactics to stifle the voice of reason in America will not succeed, because there are good people like yourself ... who will never give in to tyranny. Keep up the good work. God (no definition) bless.

~ Wal Cooper

Regarding 'The Kook Factor' by Justin Raimondo:

To see how perverse these Christian Zionists are, one only need glance at Hal Lindsey's website or read his Goebelsesque propaganda on World Net Daily. As a failed prophet and established huckster, who simply hates all Arab people with every pathetic ounce of his being (except Joseph Farah, who gleefully publishes his swill), Lindsey has easily morphed into a front line neo-con warmonger and hate-meister. Ever at the ready to defend any and all Israeli brutality, you will never hear one word of sympathy expressed for even dead Palestinian children. As a Christian, I find this so incredibly un-Christlike that the only assumption available for me is that these Christian Zionists worship a different Jesus. I think Stallone will be playing him someday.

~ M. Johnson, Hawaii

Per your link, I visited the JDL website and could not believe what I saw. As a Christian, I agree that we need to resist the theology of the extremists within our faith (dispensationalism) and focus on the one true gospel of Jesus Christ. The same is true for other religions, as there are extremists everywhere. One of the biggest paradoxes is the fact that you are Agnostic and are pro-peace and the "Rapturists" are pro-war. You may not realize it, but I think somebody higher up may be calling you but that is between you and God. Act on it, it'll be the best thing you ever did!

~ Corkey, Jersey Shore

Coinkindink?

I couldn't help but notice the juxtaposition of the planned large rallies coming up this weekend and the mysterious elevation of color-coded alerts. Smart money says "red alert" happens just in time to override first amendment rights to peaceably assemble in New York City.

~ Paul Elsnau