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liveonearthBelow 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.
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.
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making waves
Date: 2006-03-20 03:28 pm (UTC)I agree that we cannot take down this regime by attacking it directly. We need to enlist as many people as we can in the effort to remove our support from them. Only through mass participation will the methods of "getting involved" in local stuff make a difference.
I think of myself as one writer who takes the heat off folks who intuit the same truth but are afraid to attract attention. I do not know the absolute truth but I know my impressions and my mission is to write them. In writing them I get it out there, so everyone can think about it and discuss it. I am educated by way of people's reactions and the resources they turn me on to.
Maybe by "making waves" I can help raise awareness to encourage mass participation in small resistance to bring real change. I can hope.
It is sad that writing what appears obvious to me seems so dangerous in this age. Freedom of speech is fading fast.
On the news: whenever I hear Shrub speak I am amazed that every single thing that comes out of his mouth is spun. So yes, you're not getting the truth from watching TV news, but you are seeing what lies are being propagated. Non-critical thinkers buy it, you and I see it for what it is. BBC and wikipedia are good resources, and also subject to critical analysis. We hope they are unbiased, but in the end we each decide what we believe and what we dismiss as spin or disinformation.