by Frank James
The people of the United States threw al Qaeda a massive intercontinental curve ball when they elected President Barack Obama, leaving the world's most famous terrorist group apparently grasping to come to grips with what just happened.
Fighting a crusader who looked like a crusader was easy. Crusader was what Osama bin Laden liked to call President George W. Bush. It was a term that resonated in a part of the world where grudges are measured in centuries and Saladin's victory over European knights is talked of like it happened in the 1970s.
But a brand new funky president named Barack Hussein Obama who orders the closing of Guantanamo Bay and plays well in the Muslim world is causing some messaging problems for al Qaeda. It's like the American people conducted their own massive and effective psy ops against al Qaeda that has left them floundering.
The Washington Post examines al Qaeda's problem.
An excerpt:
Soon after the November election, al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader took stock of America's new president-elect and dismissed him with an insulting epithet. "A house Negro," Ayman al-Zawahiri said.
That was just a warm-up. In the weeks since, the terrorist group has unleashed a stream of verbal tirades against Barack Obama, each more venomous than the last. Obama has been called a "hypocrite," a "killer" of innocents, an "enemy of Muslims." He was even blamed for the Israeli military assault on Gaza, which began and ended before he took office.
"He kills your brothers and sisters in Gaza mercilessly and without affection," an al-Qaeda spokesman declared in a grainy Internet video this month.
The torrent of hateful words is part of what terrorism experts now believe is a deliberate, even desperate, propaganda campaign against a president who appears to have gotten under al-Qaeda's skin. The departure of George W. Bush deprived al-Qaeda of a polarizing American leader who reliably drove recruits and donations to the terrorist group.
With Obama, al-Qaeda faces an entirely new challenge, experts say: a U.S. president who campaigned to end the Iraq war and to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and who polls show is well liked throughout the Muslim world.
During the Bush years, many analysts argued that Bush played into al Qaeda's hands by invading Iraq, allowing the terrorist group to more easily frame the American war on terrorism as a war on Islam and the clash of civilizations a là the late Samuel Huntington.
U.S. actions under Bush helped radicalize millions of Muslims, according to those experts. Not that there weren't enough violent Muslim extremists before Bush. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Israel-Palestinian conflict certainly were enough to keep tensions churning. And the bombings of the the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, the World Trade Center in 1993, the U.S.'s East African embassies in 1998 and the USS Cole bombings all proved it didn't take Bush for Americans to be targeted.
Still, it's hard to argue against the thesis that Bush made al Qaeda's marketing efforts so much easier and that now the group is left testing new messages against Obama in an effort to find one that sticks.
Al Qaeda has a habit of misreading Americans, however, and maybe that will continue.
Comments
"Obama Throws Al Qaeda a Curve"
...so much for the Repuglican, "if Obama wins, the terrorists win", talking point.
HAHAHA!!!
Posted by: Hey Joe | January 25, 2009 6:32 PM
that is an interesting point of view. it probably is difficult to portray him a crusader trying targeting the muslim world when his name is barack hussein obama. and you would have to be ignorant and very dense to not see that bush was a recruiting poster for al qaida.
Posted by: jo | January 25, 2009 7:28 PM
We can't take these threats lightly. The security of the free world is at stake. We need to fire back with a youtube video calling them "stinky, stinky, poopy pants".
Posted by: zrzz | January 25, 2009 7:44 PM
Hey Joe...Right.. after 5 days in office Obama's another war hawk like Gen. Patton.
KEEP DREAMING!
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | January 25, 2009 8:07 PM
Hey Joe,
Put the gun down, buddy.
OK.
Thank God al Qaeda's favorite president is no longer in office.
Ditto their favorite prez candie; John McCain.
Posted by: C.Morris✈ | January 25, 2009 8:44 PM
Keep up the good work Mr. President...keep engaging the enemy and kill them with kindness. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. A lesson some people need to learn.
Posted by: lochnessmonster | January 25, 2009 8:52 PM
Hey Joe, I think you're right, the pugs are having all of their talking points shot down, and it is really fun on this side to watch them grasp at straws!!
Posted by: Xcellentform | January 25, 2009 8:53 PM
Well, look, you are certainly correct when you say that Bush played right into the jihadist's hands for most of his presidency and that Obama is changing the whole game but you can't lay the entire debacle at Bush's feet or imagine that Obama can single handedly pull our nuts out of the fire. Not many members of Congress, Republican or Democrat, had the combination of intelligence and political courage to put a stop to the Bush administration and its arrogant recklessness and, based on what I've seen so far, not many members of the current Congress, Republican or Democrat, are much better. If you ask me, what we need right now is fewer Republicans and Democrats and more Obamacans.
Posted by: David Dial | January 25, 2009 9:13 PM
"...the bombings of the the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, the World Trade Center in 1993, the U.S.'s East African embassies in 1998 and the USS Cole bombings all proved it didn't take Bush for Americans to be targeted."
.
Yep. They don't care if the American president is white or black, has a WASP name or an African Muslim name. They hate America and the West, and al Quada will never have a shortage of eager "martyrs". Period.
.
Not much of a curve ball, there.
Posted by: MJ | January 25, 2009 9:13 PM
It is called desperation.
Bush was a tonic to their cause.
Obama's world wide popularity will, they believe, marginalize them and limit their ability to recruit and grow.
They're right.
Posted by: ornery | January 25, 2009 11:01 PM
National PR for WAR RADIO today reveals--there already ARE 30,000 plus troops in Afghanistan doing more adventurism and genocide for 'our' oil beneath 'their' soil. Shameful.
Listen to what Bob Edwards offers and ask yourself: Are WE being served by our corporate 'public' media outlet?
I might as well listen to Rush Limbaugh--it's just racism against people on a different continent and time zone.
http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/bob-edwards-weekend/
Posted by: President Obama can't do it alone--DEMAND YOUR CONGRESS REPS AND SENS WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ | January 26, 2009 5:17 AM
When you are talking about an Al Qaida, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, or Hamas... NONE of these will ever want peace with us and Israel, it's ludicrously naive to believe so.
Most of their people are completely brainwashed and on a war-footing to fight outside"enemies", primarily to keep the booming, unhappy population focused someplace other than their leaders' serial incompetence and brutal dictatorships. They have painted themselves into a corner with bileful rhetoric, and cannot compromise in a peace deal after such statements as "Israel should be wiped from the map". Barack's people can yap in Tehran all he wants, but they better keep an eye on the western horizon... for a swarm IAF F-16's.
These leaders have placed all their chips on confrontation with the "crusaders", and cannot back down without losing their political security, or in the case of Hezbollah and Hamas, their reason to even exist- per their charter. The Israelis know this perfectly well, and they can't be bothered with a pollyanna world-view like Obama's.
The only reason they'll warm at all to Obama is the same reason they liked Jimmy Carter- a "useful idiot". Any "talks" for them are an opportunity to forward their own agenda, not to accept our advice or principles. Anything else is only wishful thinking. What's the precedent, the 6-party talks with North Korea?
If Obama wants to deal with the Devil... he should well expect to get burned.
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com
Posted by: Reaganite Republican | January 26, 2009 7:41 AM
"Thank God al Qaeda's favorite president is no longer in office."
Posted by: C.Morris✈ | January 25, 2009 8:44 PM
.
"Obama's world wide popularity will, they believe, marginalize them and limit their ability to recruit and grow."
Posted by: ornery | January 25, 2009 11:01 PM
.
.
So nobody is going to be upset about the recent (and past and ongoing) civillian deaths in Pakistan and Afghanistan because our President has a Muslim name. Got it. WHEW! And here I thought they'd want revenge, silly me.
Posted by: MJ | January 26, 2009 7:49 AM
Rush says; "I hope he (BHO) fails."
Does Rush hope BHO fails in regards to the defeat of terrorists? If a mushroom cloud rises over a city will Rush and the DittoHeads feel good?
Posted by: C.Morris✈ | January 26, 2009 8:41 AM
Never forget; They, the cons, want BHO to fail.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008664366_opina25pitts.html
Posted by: C.Morris✈ | January 26, 2009 8:48 AM
Oh get real, Frank! Al Qaida and their Islamofascist cohorts hate Americans because we're Americans. They kill for the love of killing. They hate for the sake of hating. If you really think that will change under the Boy Wonder, you're in for a rude awakening.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspirator | January 26, 2009 8:59 AM
The genius of what the "extremists" have going for them is that they have hidden their true greedy ambition of power behind religion.
How are these extremists different from any gang or mafia?
1) Their true existence is to gain power. They hide behind the un-winable argument of religion
2) They have foot-soldiers, logistics, PR, and finance.
3) They intimidate and bribe their way into influence and protection (NW Pakistan/Afghanistan)
Like any gang-infested area, the citizens are held hostage by the violence and the threat of violence. Even the mafia practiced good PR in the 1920's with soup kitchens and charity. Al Qaeda and Hamas are exactly the same, but they claim religion is their motivation.
What would happen if these extremists got their wish? Isn't that what the Taliban had in Afghanistan before 2002? Weren't the extremists in control ? Covering women head to toe and beating them for looking up? Selling heroin to the West for profit? Intimidating anyone who would ask for a better life and expressing a thought outside of the hijacked Islam? Living like Kings while keeping their people destitute?
Muslims in Islamabad are no different than suburbanites in major cities. They know the violence exists, that the gangs exist, but it's far enough from them that it's just something on the news. As our world gets smaller, the true desires of those who fight for power should become more evident - even to those who are oppressed.
Posted by: karl | January 26, 2009 10:04 AM
Vast, stop changing the Repuglican talking points.
You know full well that, according to Georgie Boy, the trouble in the world is because
"They DON'T LOVE FREEDOM."
Remember.
Just keep repeating that one, like W did all the time.
Posted by: ornery | January 26, 2009 11:08 AM
In March 1983, in a famous speech Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire.” In June 1988 he was walking around Red Square arm in arm with Mikhail Gorbachev.
Posted by: bill r. | January 26, 2009 11:11 AM
"Never forget; They, the cons, want BHO to fail."
.
I see. So if global terrorism doesn't stop it will be American Conservatives' fault. Well yes, that makes perfect sense.
.
Everybody ...we can't be too careful ...let's all keep our tin foil beanies taped on tight!
Posted by: MJ | January 26, 2009 11:18 AM
Hey Joe...Right.. after 5 days in office Obama's another war hawk like Gen. Patton.
KEEP DREAMING!
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | January 25, 2009 8:07 PM
Umm -- makes no less sense and no more sense than your blaming failures on Obama before he was even in office. Sorry to break it to you, but you don't get it both ways.
Posted by: Op109 | January 26, 2009 11:20 AM
Oh get real, Frank! Al Qaida and their Islamofascist cohorts hate Americans because we're Americans. They kill for the love of killing. They hate for the sake of hating. If you really think that will change under the Boy Wonder, you're in for a rude awakening.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspirator | January 26, 2009 8:59 AM
And you Hate muslims for being muslims, and Iranians for being Iranians. You want to see them slaughtered. You hate them as much as they hate you. Are you any better than them? Nope. Not in the slightest. You are just a different brand of hatefilled terrorist. You will never stop hating them. You will never mourn the death of a single muslim. You will rejoice as they are killed. women and children included. You ARE Al Qaeda under a different name : American Conservative Militarist.
Posted by: NCB | January 26, 2009 1:01 PM
AQ will always invent reasons to recruit and justify their murder. George Bush is the recruiting tool de jour, but now that he is out of the picture, they will turn to something else. The easy one is Israel/Palestine, where BHO has already basically come down on the side of Israel. What Obama really needs is lap dogs in the Arab media like he has here. He needs F James and M Silva to get jobs with Al Jazeera. James could shamelessly spin every Obama move into a great decision, and Silva could write daily articles about what Obama has for breakfast. Arab opinion would be bound to change, which is what really needs to happen to marginalize AQ and hurt their recruiting efforts.
Posted by: Herbie H. | January 26, 2009 2:54 PM
MJ,
I think Rush would be tickled pink if there was a big, successful terrorist attack he could blame on BHO.
Posted by: C.Morris✈ | January 26, 2009 4:04 PM
"I think Rush would be tickled pink if there was a big, successful terrorist attack he could blame on BHO."
Posted by: C.Morris✈ | January 26, 2009 4:04 PM
.
Rush might gloat, yes. No argument there. But who does he speak for? The lunatic fringe. So what? Most Americans instinctively rally around the Prez when things like that happen. They always have and they will do it again if it comes to it.
.
Limbaugh is irrelevant, now more than ever. It's time to move on.
Posted by: Mj | January 26, 2009 5:41 PM
Yes, time to move on. C.Morris✈ simply repeated the words of a man who unfortunately has the ear of a majority of far-right goons that daily pray for Obama to fail for their own selfish and partisan reasons.
The height of ugly patriots that will gladly see their own country fail just to put ✔ in the win column.
Posted by: Bubba ✔ | January 26, 2009 11:14 PM