Bush and Al-Qaeda: A Symbiotic Relationship

May 31 2004
Counterbias.com
Doug Griffin

George W. Bush needs Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.  Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda need George W. Bush. 

Nonsense?  Maybe not. 

Some believe that the bombings in Madrid this March had a direct effect on the Spanish presidential election.  The logic behind that being: the citizenry of Spain decided that they were attacked because of Spain siding with the United States in Iraq.  In other words, elect someone else that doesn’t kneel to King George.

Similarly, there are those who believe the same could happen in the U.S.  It has been suggested that should al-Qaeda strike inside the United States prior to the election this year, the American electorate might follow Spain’s lead.  It has even been said that bin Laden wants John Kerry to win.  Really?

That all sounds like right-wing smoke-screen/scare tactics all rolled into one ominous pile of Texas Longhorn bullshit to me!

In case you’ve been in a fog since 9/11, the Bush gang have played the bin Laden/terror alert card whenever they need to fan the flames of fear.  Generally speaking, the fear mongering happens when Bush either needs to drum up support for a policy or when he’s in trouble.  Like now.  Maybe the recent terror warnings are valid, maybe they aren’t.  But as many have pointed out, it looks rather suspicious, not to mention confusing, for Attorney General John Ashcroft to hold a press conference to announce that we’re about to be hit again, after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has said that there was no new intelligence that was more significant than what he’s seen before.

There are many - too many - who will blindly follow this president down whatever path he takes. This is most definitely a “buffalo jump” as fellow Counterbias scribe Dennis Jones described in a recent article.  Shrubya’s people know that all they have to do to get a large portion of the masses behind him/them is to play the fear card. It’s worked pretty well so far.

That’s why Bush needs his elusive spectre.  Bush used bin Laden/al-Qaeda to drum up support for the Patriot Act.  Bush used bin Laden/al-Qaeda to gain additional powers from Congress.   Bush used bin Laden/al-Qaeda to justify war in Iraq.  And now, Bush is using bin Laden/al-Qaeda in an attempt to shore up his sagging poll numbers.  If there were no bin Laden or al-Qaeda, the Bushites would have to conjure up something else for us to fear.  At the RNC Convention this summer, it wouldn’t surprise me, or many others, to see the Republicans parade bin Laden out in shackles to proclaim that “President Bush always gets his man!”  At the same time, they’d say, “You better vote for us… the danger is still out there.  We’re the ones protecting you.  See?”

This summer and fall, it isn’t unfathomable to think Bush's Administration will use these and other tactics to scare the populous into voting in its favor.  Indeed, they already have by insinuating that voting for John Kerry is what Osama bin Laden wants.  I doubt that very seriously, because al-Qaeda has benefited significantly with King George at the helm.

With America under the expert leadership of George W. Bush, al-Qaeda has enjoyed a substantial swelling of its ranks, according to a recent study.  According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies, al-Qaeda is now 18,000 potential terrorists strong.  I think bin Laden and al-Qaeda owe George W. Bush a huge debt of gratitude.  Without Georgey-boy’s global follies, beginning with Afghanistan, al-Qaeda might actually have been neutralized.  Instead, Bush has been the poster-boy for recruitment to the terrorist organization. 

Osama bin Laden wants John Kerry to be president of the United States?  Get real!  Even though Kerry would probably finish what Bush started in Iraq, the global atmosphere would change dramatically.  A Kerry Administration would be more insightful and less inciting.  If we elect a president who is truly compassionate, which I believe Kerry is, a president that can admit when mistakes and missteps have been made, we may begin to regain the global credibility and respect that we’ve lost under the Bush Administration.