The undeniably disturbing video of an alleged Al-Queda “spokesman” promised that hijackings will continue and reaffirmed that all Americans are targets of the terrorist organization.
That message followed the equally disturbing tape of Osama explicitly endorsing the 9/11 bombings and implicitly taking credit for directing the operation.
Both tapes prompted the White House to ask the US media to not play any tapes from the Al-Queda organization. The administration’s reasons were that the tapes are simply uninformative propaganda and might contain “secret messages” that will instruct terrorists living in the US.
Between Al-Queda and the US government, it’s not hard to imagine the discomfort of ordinary Muslims that wish this whole debacle never happened. Terroristic psychopaths claiming they represent “all Muslims” and a thoughtless government implicitly claiming that “all Muslims” speak in code.
Contrary to the US position, these tapes are incredibly informative to the American public. They show the results of US policy coming home to roost. Americans shouldn’t emotionally react to these videos. They should intellectually react. What did the US do to anger these people? Was I ever informed–truly informed–about US policy and it’s long term potential? Are there alternatives to current US policy that could serve the national interest and not rub the entire planet the wrong way? What is so important that it would drive a Saudi prince into the life of a pauper and fugitive in Afghanistan?
As this drama drags on, it becomes painfully clear that hundreds of thousands of people–perhaps millions–view Osama bin Laden as a sort of hardcore Robin Hood. When bin Laden and his followers spout their venom on the US, any semi-rational being knows that people don’t build that anger overnight and should demand better reasons than Dubya’s “they’re evil” response. Of course they’re evil. The question is: why?
“Why?” is a powerful question and definitely a question that this Administration has proven unwilling to answer in any form. Instead of reexamining the Middle East policy of pro Israel/pro autocratic oil regimes/screw everybody else, which would definitely occur after a few more Osama tapes, the Administration decides to keep the American public in the dark by dispensing tautological nonsense about “secret codes” in the videos in order to strongly suggest censorship by the media without being accused of being censors.
Until there is concrete evidence of “secret code”, we should call a spade a spade and ask our government why people like Osama want to kill us.
