Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Bin Laden speaks AGAIN. He can't stop: The avalanche of these long and tedious speeches by Bin Laden are now coming out at an alarming rate. This tells me that he finds himself secure and safe, wherever he is. I have also noticed that the speech from yesterday (which is very long, and some websites are offering it in 3 or 4 installments because of the large size of the files) was offered in sound and word by As-Sahab Foundation (the propaganda arm of Al-Qa`idah), and the files were very high quality technologically (especially the PDF files prepared by As-Sahab with the full texts). The full name of Bin Laden's organization is now The Organization of the Qa`idah (Base) of International Jihad. Bin Laden, I am convinced now, is a failed writer/poet just as Hitler was a failed artist. If Hitler's artistic endeavors were fulfilled in Vienna we would have in all likelihood been spared his "political" endeavors later on. Similarly, if Bin Laden's literary talents were great, we would have been spared his "Jihad" activities. I find myself continuously irritated when I hear Bush's speeches with his invocation of the words "freedom" and "liberty", etc. And I get continuously irritated when I listen to Bin Laden's speeches with his invocation of that annoying word "Jihad." In this last speech of yesterday, he even composed a poem, which I will spare you. It was awful. And for those who know Arabic language, and the rules of poetic composition, he used the easiest meter: Al-Hazaj--Mafa`ilun, Mafa`ilun. The first Arabic poem I ever wrote (and it was not good) was in Al-Bahr Al-Hazaj. Bin Laden awards a new title to Bush: he calls him the "overall leader of Kufr" (infidelity). He also draws analogies between Saddam's massacres and Bush's massacres in Iraq. He added that Saddam committed his crimes in the name of "stinking [Arab] nationalism" while Bush committed his crimes in the name of "blood thirsty Zionistic Crusadism." I hate it when Bin Laden regularly asks "God" to accept this person or that as a "martyr" as if there is a link between him and "God." That is doubly unbelievable for me as an atheist. He talks at length about Fallujah, and hails its fighters, and compares them to the 19 hijackers of Sep. 11. This particular speech (and the last one about Saudi Arabia) leaves you with the impression that he now is closely following news developments. In this speech, he tries so hard (but fails despite his strong command of the Arabic language) to be literary and uses the old fashioned style of saja` (where words rhyme at the end of phrases and sentences). But his style is very old fashioned--if not archaic--and he uses classical cliches from literature. He needs to read some Arabic works from a century later than the 11th, if he wants to improve his literary skills. (For example--when addressing "holy strugglers"--he says that you "came like cold water on thirst.") He mocks Bush's declaration about "end of major combat operations." He also seems to idolize lions, and uses many of its old synonyms. And many names of places and bases of Al-Qa`idah use words dealing with lions and their resting places. He also announces that this is the WWIII, between the Islamic Ummah and and the "Zionist-Crusading" alliance. Samuel Huntington may agree with Bin Laden here. He also makes fun of Bush's claim about fighting terrorism in Iraq. He asks rhetorically: "Since when was Iraq ever a base for Al-Qa`idah"? implying this has been a development that followed the US occupation. He also falsely claims that Bush had said that he wants to make the Middle East a "Christian area." Bush never said such a thing. And then he goes on to urge people to engage in Jihad, with money and with men (you do not expect this misogynist man to accept women in combat). He then goes on to forbid (as if he has power over Muslims and Arabs) any support for the "apostate" governments of Allawi, Karzai, and Abu Mazin. He also labels Mahmud Abbas as a Baha'i. Abu Mazin has denied being a Baha'i and yet many people in the Middle East remain convinced that he is a Baha'i, not that there is anything wrong in being Baha'i in my opinion, of course. But it classical Islamic rulings, Baha'ism is considered apostasy because Baha'is believe in a prophet who came after Muhammad who was--according to Muslims--the seal of all prophets. Thus, Baha'is were declared by Khumayni in Iran as people who are "mahduri ad-Dam" (people whose blood is spillable). Ironically, Baha'ism is a very peaceful religion and it took a very enlightened position on women's rights in the 19th century. Getting back to Bin Ladin's speech. It just does not end. And then he says something that really bothered me. He said that a government that is 90 % based on Islamic laws and 10 % based on human laws is a pagan (kafir) government. How ridiculous is that. How can you have a government that is based 100 % on Islamic laws? There are tons of areas of the law where Islamic laws have nothing to offer. What is the Islamic legal position on Tuna fishing, maritime laws, copyright laws, internet sales and traffic, HDTV, V chip, etc. There is a very good book by James Piscatori of Oxford University titled Islam in a World of Nation State. In this book (which did not get the attention and praise that it deserves), Piscatori shows that no "Islamic government" (not even Iran or Saudi Arabia) is really based purely on Islamic laws. So Bin Laden wants a society based on 100% of Islamic laws, provided it is HIS interpretations of Islamic laws, of course. I am glad that Bin Laden will never ever have the chance to establish his "ideal" form of government. He may establish his ideal cave or basement, but not government. As for as I am concerned, I want a government that is 0% based on any religious law of any religion. Bin Laden has also been obsessed with the economic conditions of the US, and cites figures of Bush's recent borrowing. And then in an odd section, he urges people to participate with "their money and souls" in the war "for the victory of religion." He then oddly cites the figure for the budget of Al-Qa`idha in Iraq, which he says is "200,000 Euro a week." Why would he cite that figure, and for what purpose, I do not know. He then salutes Abu Mus`ab Az-Zarqawi, and declares him the Amir (Prince) of Al-Qa`idah in Iraq. And by the way, I cannot believe that some people still doubt the very existence of Abu Mus`ab. I receive emails and inquiries from people in the Middle East to the effect that he does not exist, and that he is an invention of US propaganda. That has also been the theory of Scott Ritter in a recent article. There is no doubt to the existence of Zarqawi, and the LBC Documentary on Zarqawi showed actual video footage of the man (see my entry on that a while back). And then he cites his own poetry. Here is a sample:
"Goodbye oh, hero
for your loss, eyes cry
spots on earth are sad
for your loss, and the encampment cried
we met in this life,
and we hope in the next..."
How lame is that?