September 03, 2003

WHY DO THEY HATE IRAQ?

Paul Wolfowitz on terrorism in Iraq:

Terrorists recognise that Iraq is on a course towards self-government that is irreversible and, once achieved, will be an example to all in the Muslim world who desire freedom, pointing a way out of the hopelessness that the extremists feed on. And so they test our will, the will of the Iraqi people and the will of the civilised world.

Among the hundreds of enemy that we have captured in the past months are more than 200 foreign terrorists who came to Iraq to kill Americans and Iraqis and to do everything they can to prevent a free and successful Iraq from emerging. They must be defeated - and they will be.

Naturally, this will depress some in the West, as James Taranto -- now returned to his WSJ desk -- reminds us:

Antiwar protesters down under are finally getting some recognition. Australia's Daily Telegraph quotes a man named simply Sawad, who helped mix the explosives used in last year's Bali nightclub bombing, as saying: "I want to thank the Australian people who supported our cause when they demonstrated against the policies of George Bush. Say thank you to all of them."

In November 2001, the New York Times reported that Osama bin Laden himself thanked Western "antiwar" demonstrators, in an interview with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir:

Mr. bin Laden had also been impressed by the coverage of protests in the West against the American bombing of Afghanistan, Mr. Mir said, and appeared to believe that antiwar sentiments could be used to his advantage.

"He said, 'I admit there are many good and innocent people living in the West,' " Mr. Mir said, and suggested they should oppose the American policy, as with the Vietnam War.

Posted by Tim Blair at September 3, 2003 06:29 PM
Comments

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Oh, now Osama admits there are good and innocent people living in the West. Does he believe that some of them happened to be in the WTC on September 11, then? And if so, how does he justify murdering them?

Posted by: Rebecca Harris at September 4, 2003 at 12:42 AM

No, WTC was a haven of despond,filled with many capitalist firms and thus a symbol of Satan's hold on the West. Those who worked there, therefore, were not good, innnocent people.Instead, they were enmired in sin, and committed many evils, and were thus oppressors of my cause.
Osama.

Posted by: d at September 4, 2003 at 11:30 AM

Tim, I remember our PM making the same dickheaded "protester = terrorist" correlation shortly after about 200,000 people or so turned out in the streets of each of Australia's state capitals to protest the war. "They're all Saddam sympathisers!" I think was the unfortunate blunder. I'm sure it's simpler (and, like, rilly rilly funny) for you to be able to smugly denegrate large swathes of lefties in this way, but factually speaking, its one hell of a long bow. On the other hand, your blind acceptance of the words of ole Zionist Paul is pretty scary. Think about it -- Islamic states looking to secular Iraq as an "example". This widely overlooked yet essential difference (that demonstrates a basic misapprehension of the subject matter) also puts paid to that hilarious pre-war assertion by President Bush that Saddam and the world's favorite fundamentalist muslim, Osama, were in cahoots.

Posted by: Adam at September 4, 2003 at 01:23 PM

Re: "Saddam and the world's favorite fundamentalist muslim, Osama, were in cahoots"

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/033jgqyi.asp

Posted by: jas at September 5, 2003 at 03:36 AM

Re: "Saddam and the world's favorite fundamentalist muslim, Osama, were in cahoots"

link http://windsofchange.net/archives/003991.html

Posted by: jas at September 5, 2003 at 04:22 AM

I ,iis u twin towers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Mia at September 14, 2003 at 01:40 PM