Osama Bin Laden speaks more truth than George W Bush

[liveonearth]

Below I have quoted the closing paragraphs of Osama Bin Laden's broadcast on Al Jazeera TV from Thursday, January 19. I had not read it until today, but I am glad I finally did read it. He spoke about torture and rape, and of the hopeless suicides of American soldiers caught between fighting an unjust war and the punishing devices of a vicious government. He spoke about Bush's lies and of the financial support that he gets from "war merchants". Bin Laden is insightful and direct. I honor his fight to the death against our president, his cronies and our war and profit machine. I hear more compassion in his promise to give us hell than I hear in Bush's constant promise that they are "making progress" at sacrificing our young men for the almighty oil dollar. I am sorry that I am a hypocrite and pay taxes to a government which has so horrifically wronged so many people. As tax day approaches this becomes constantly more painful. There must be a better way.

The entire text can be found on the BBC at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4628932.stm

Bin Laden's words, which are clearly directed at the American people:

"Finally, I would like to tell you that the war is for you or for us to win. If we win it, it means your defeat and disgrace forever as the wind blows in this direction with God's help.

If you win it, you should read the history. We are a nation that does not tolerate injustice and seek revenge forever.

Days and nights will not go by until we take revenge as we did on 11 September, God willing, and until your minds are exhausted and your lives become miserable and things turn [for the worse], which you detest.

As for us, we do not have anything to lose. The swimmer in the sea does not fear rain. You have occupied our land, defiled our honour, violated our dignity, shed our blood, ransacked our money, demolished our houses, rendered us homeless, and tampered with our security. We will treat you in the same way.

You tried to deny us the decent life, but you cannot deny us a decent death. Refraining from performing jihad, which is sanctioned by our religion, is an appalling sin. The best way of death for us is under the shadows of swords.

Do not be deluded by your power and modern weapons. Although they win some battles, they lose the war. Patience and steadfastness are better than them. What is important is the outcome.

We have been tolerant for 10 years in fighting the Soviet Union with our few weapons and we managed to drain their economy.

They became history, with God's help.

You should learn lessons from that. We will remain patient in fighting you, God willing, until the one whose time has come dies first. We will not escape the fight as long as we hold our weapons in our hands.

I swear not to die but a free man even if I taste the bitterness of death. I fear to be humiliated or betrayed.

Peace be upon those who follow guidance."


I (liveonearth) say---
PEACE BE UPON all who fight for truth in the face of greed, violence and treachery. For those who say Bin Laden is treacherous, I say: look, he has told us straight up what he will do and why. He has done this while our own leaders have lied to us incessantly for years and show no signs of stopping. Who is treacherous?

.....................The swimmer in the sea does not fear rain.

Comments

They're all full of shit

[neptunia67.livejournal.com]

"Peace be upon those who follow guidance.". Who's guidance? YOUR God, or mine? Bin Laden is no better than Bush. Both of them are perfectly willing to torture and kill innocent people to win their war. Both use brainwashing (Bin Laden better than Bush, I have to say) to meet their means. Both are full of shit. I don't believe the people on 9/11 got what they deserved. They were just going to work. I don't believe the people in Iraq are getting what they deserve either... they're just trying to survive and have a life. It's the power-hungry, religious freaks that cause the problems and make innocent people's lives misery. As with every war that's ever happened in this world, religion is at the center. I don't think that makes Bin Laden deserving of sympathy OR respect.

[aughraseye.livejournal.com]

I spent my night last night reading about social stratification and racism, and I came to the conclusion that it all is an institution, deliberate, intelligent, and calculated. I don't know much about history (I don't care to, as I think it's mostly propaganda and rose-coloring of events that paint "us" in a favorable light) but I've *never* seen any administration be so sloppy and arrogant. Yet news analysts everywhere are baffled as to why gas prices have spiked in coincidence with the stock market and why the federal government couldn't wouldn't do anything about Katrina. HELLO!! They're too busy laughing all the way to the bank to give a fuck! And people are so hopelessly stupid and zoned into whatever fantasy they've been conditioned to worship that they don't even see it, even though the Bush administration's story has more holes than swiss cheese.

As a "psychologist," I assert that the root of the problem is the way people think. That's gotta change.

[aughraseye.livejournal.com]

p.s. it would be really fun to get Tim on here!