Al Qaeda and the November Election

Today Department of Homeland Security head Tom Ridge announced intellegence indicating that Al Qaeda is planning a major terrorist attack to disrupt the November elections. If that's true, I think Al Qaeda is not just dangerous, but stupid too.

Although both the Democrats and Republicans are resolved to fight terrorism, it is the Republicans who are more inclined to be hawkish when it comes to unilateral action in the Middle East as a response to that terror. That's precisely what Al Qaeda is trying to stop the United States from doing. They want the US out of Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. But if there were to be a major terrorist strike shortly before the presidential election, it would help George Bush secure re-election much more than it would erode voters' support for him, as happened in Spain. We'd rally around the president, like everyone (even me) did initially after September 11. Does Al Qaeda really want to support George Bush? Talk about strange bedfellows...the Bush family's connections to Saudi Arabia and the Bin Laden family residing there not withstanding. But maybe Al Qaeda knows how dangerous Bush is for the United States even better than its people do. Maybe they think that he's more likely to take the bait on the kind of full-on religious war they seem to want to fight.

Comments

[allan]

I think the Bush administration is probably the best thing that has ever happened to Al Qaeda. I'm sure recruitment has never been higher. Even though it was characterized as a slip when, soon after 9/11, Bush called the "war on terror" a crusade, the members of Al Qaeda know that he in fact spoke the truth. They know that we want their oil and Islam dead. We pretend to tolerate Islam but we know they're wrong because our god is the one true god, and they don't believe Jesus died for their sins. They also know that we are on Israel's side because we believe they are God's favorites -- his chosen ones. So they know we are on a crusade, and that the nastier we are to them, the stronger they will become. They're baiting us and we're too stupid to figure it out, because we're blinded by greed.
There -- whew! I feel better already.

[Brian]

Right on -- testify!