Whatever else the leaders of Al-Qaeda are, they're not stupid. Crazy? Yes. Murderous bastards? Absolutely. But not stupid. They have to realize the implications of the recent election, and they also have to realize the bind it puts them in. So they have to say something about it. The new tape comes as no surprise.
But while they're not stupid, their cultural blindness leads them to a certain ham-handed ineptitude when it comes to propaganda. Does anyone actually listen to this stuff before sending it out?
Al-Zawahiri's characterization of President-Elect Obama as a "house slave" is laughable. It's meant as an insult, but it's so hilariously off-base as to rob it of any possible sting. And like many insults, it also says far more about the insulter than about the insulted.
Numero Uno: What this says is that Al-Qaeda is keenly aware that they have to discredit Obama before he takes office. They have to get their spin out, that this new face at the helm is really no change at all. And as far as they're concerned, it's not. They dance on air just the same no matter who catches them. Bush, Obama, no matter; one party's English hempen necktie is as good as another. But they also know that, all across Africa and Asia, common folks are looking towards America with new eyes, seeing us as the real land of opportunity. And they know they've no answer to that. They're bluffing with a busted straight, and praying no one calls.
Numero Two-O: What this also says is that Al-Qaeda's well-known prejudice against all and sundry non-Arab is alive and well. They talk a good game in public about unity among Muslims, but some Muslims are rather more equal than others. Non-Arab Muslims are all right, provided that they show the proper deference to the Chosen. This is the main reason Al-Qaeda hasn't exactly caught on elsewhere. There are cells throughout Africa and Asia, true, but not many, and not exceptionally popular. Signing on for second-class citizenship is, for some reason, less popular than the Al-Qaeda leadership thinks it would be. Now, when the people stack that up against the fact that the son of an immigrant is about to assume the Presidency... The shoddy poverty of Al-Qaeda's ideology is thrown into sharp relief, for all to see.
Numero Three-O: There's something surreal about hearing the man who's just over two months from getting the keys to the world's biggest nuclear liquor cabinet described as a "house slave". It's like hearing a novice boxer saying that the world champion's just not that tough ... Are these guys for real? I mean, come on: Barack Obama's about to become the most powerful man in the world. He's no one's slave, house or otherwise. Granted, he's accountable to us, and will have to seek our approval come 2012 to stay in office, but that just means he works for us. These jokers just don't get it.
In the long run, that's why they'll lose. They just don't understand what they're up against. Then again, they never did understand, did they? Their aims would have been far better served had they let us alone, instead of goading us into wakeful vengeance in September of 2001.
But, as I said earlier, they may not be stupid ... but they are all-day crazy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Al Qaeda, like all despotic groups and governments, presents their case in a skewed manner. When commenting on other world figures or governments, they often come up with wildly inaccurate claims and accusations because they don't really know or fully understand what they're talking about. Our own government was guilty of this very same sin when Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld claimed Saddam Hussein's Iraq was a bastion of terrorism and a sanctuary for terrorists. It all boils down to stupid people shooting their mouth off...
Post a Comment