The Terrorists Want Bush to Win!

I am getting so tired of hearing from right-wing commentators how al Qaeda wants John Kerry to win in November because they think it will be easier for them to defeat the U.S. in Iraq if Kerry is President. The latest comments I have seen come from a former Clinton advisor who has turned into a reactionary wacko--Dick Morris. His original argument, back in May, was that al Qaeda would attack the U.S. again leading up to election day in order to swing the vote in favor of John Kerry. He now argues that the terrorists are remaining silent and will not attack again before the election because they have realized that an attack in the U.S. would guarantee the re-election of Bush--and they don't want that because they are afraid of Bush. What tripe!

The reality is that al Qaeda and their affiliated terrorist organizations see Bush as a tremendous recruiting help. The Republicans want us to believe that Bush strikes fear in the hearts and minds of the terrorist groups, but there is no evidence to support their claim. In fact, the opposite argument has come from these terrorist groups. From a March 2004 Reuters report about the terrorist attacks in Spain, the group claiming responsibility for the train bombing in Madrid had the following to say about the election (as reported by Reuters):

WE WANT BUSH TO WIN

The statement [by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades] said it supported U.S. President George W. Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader "more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."

In comments addressed to Bush, the group said: "Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as civilisation."

"Because of this we desire you (Bush) to be elected."

The organization to whom this quote is attributed claims to be closely affiliated with al Qaeda, and is in fact named in honor of Mohammed Atef, one of bin Laden's closest allies in establishing al Qaeda. Does this group speak for al Qaeda or bin Laden? Probably not, but they most likely share the same objectives and sum up the general feeling of the Islamist insurgency worldwide.

Just a little something for my reader(s) to think about leading up to the BIG DAY on Tuesday.