by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
Private Papers<\/em><\/p>\n L<\/span>ike all of Osama bin Laden\u2019s previous messages to the West, his most recent communiqu\u00e9 contains three Ladenese trademarks \u2014 lying, defying, and demoralizing \u2014 that are always present whenever the al Qaeda chieftain addresses the West.<\/p>\n That bin Laden has publicly lied before, there is no doubt.\u00a0 After the strikes of 9\/11, he repeatedly denied any direct responsibility.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>It was only in a message delivered in late 2004 \u2014 after more than three years of dissembling \u2014 that bin Laden first indicated that he was in fact involved in the strikes of 9\/11.<\/b><\/p>\n Finally, in this latest message, bin Laden casually declares his master role in commissioning 9\/11:<\/p>\n In truth, he [Moussaoui] has no connection with 9\/11, and I am certain of what I say, for I was responsible for commissioning the 19 brothers, and I did not commission brother Zacarias to join them in that operation\u2026.\u00a0 Brother Moussaoui was arrested two weeks before the events [of 9\/11]: so if he knew anything about the 9\/11 group, we would have notified commander Mohammad Atta and his brethren \u2014 Allah have mercy on them \u2014 of America\u2019s treachery immediately, before their operation was discovered.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In light of bin Laden\u2019s mendacity, what good is his word now \u2014 about anything \u2014 when he openly lied in front of the whole world then?<\/p>\n Bin Laden tries to vindicate Moussaoui by saying that when the wannabe terrorist confessed to his complicity in the 9\/11 plot, he (too) was only lying: \u201cHis [Moussaoui\u2019s] confession that he was commissioned to participate in those strikes is false\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n So confirmed liar bin Laden tries to exonerate liar Moussaoui by saying that the latter was only lying?<\/p>\n None of this should be surprising since certain Muslims believe that lying and deceit in general are legitimate in Islam, if one is trying to empower or defend Islam and Muslims.\u00a0 This is known as the doctrine of Taqiyya, and al Qaeda has made clear in its numerous treatises that it endorses this doctrine. Bin Laden\u2019s right-hand man, Aymin al-Zawahri, writes: \u201cWe grin to the faces of some peoples, though our hearts curse them\u2026.Protection is not accomplished with deeds but with the tongue \u2026. [D]emonstrate friendship to the infidels with your tongues, while harboring hostility towards them\u2026.The Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him, said, \u2018War is deceit.\u2019<\/p>\n Nor is Taqiyya-style lying to be conflated with the typical lies of realpolitik, the latter so prevalent in the Cold War era and thus overlooked here in the West.\u00a0 Unlike the lies, exaggerations, and half-truths of Western politicians (which range from the selfish to the practical), the deceptions of al Qaeda are ultimately geared for one purpose alone \u2014 seeing the West (infidelity) destroyed and Islam made supreme.<\/p>\n Thus bin Laden\u2019s motives in directing this recent message to the U.S. have nothing to do with exonerating the rabid anti-American Moussaoui.\u00a0 Today the latter is a moot point and bin Laden knows it.\u00a0 Instead, bin Laden\u2019s deceptions are wrought for two greater purposes \u2014 defying and demoralizing the U.S.<\/p>\n A<\/span>side from maintaining Moussaoui\u2019s innocence, bin Laden goes on to defy the U.S. by constantly portraying al Qaeda and its members as untouchables, while simultaneously depicting U.S. actions as a great injustice against humanity, thereby demoralizing American resolve:<\/p>\n I am also certain when I say that all of the hostages at Guantanomo \u2014 who were captured between 2001 and the first half of 2002, and whose numbers are in the hundreds \u2014 have no connection whatsoever with the events of 9\/11.\u00a0 What\u2019s even stranger is that none of them have any connection with al Qaeda from the start.\u00a0 More amazingly,\u00a0 some of them even disagreed with al Qaeda\u2019s call to battle America!\u2026\u00a0 In sum, I say that all of the prisoners up to this day have no connection to the events of 9\/11, nor did they even know about it\u2026.\u00a0 This is the truth, as Bush and his administration know it, though they refrain from mentioning it for reasons that cannot be hidden from any intelligent person.\u00a0 One, for instance, is the need to justify the hundreds of billions spent on the Defense Department and arms in their war against the mujahideen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n With classic bin Laden flare, the al Qaeda leader establishes that the U.S. war against the terrorist organization is hopeless \u2014 not a single one of that \u201cAlcatraz for terrorists\u201d prison camp is an al Qaeda member or affiliate.\u00a0 Indeed, we are told, some of them opposed bin Laden. And while he freely admits that he orchestrated the 9\/11 strikes, drawing first blood, he now portrays the war as Bush\u2019s initiative to make some quick cash.<\/p>\n In the end, however, bin Laden comes clean and confesses why he is communicating all this to the American people, by, ironically, once again appealing to \u201ctruth\u201d:<\/p>\n \u201cI mention these truths not because I have any hope that Bush and his party will treat our brethren with justice \u2014 for this is not something any intelligent person could expect \u2014 but instead to show you how oppressive, outrageous, and tyrannical your administration is in their [ab]use of power.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, this is what bin Laden always strives for in his messages \u2014 to portray Bush and his administration as \u201coppressive, outrageous, tyrannical,\u201d et. al.<\/p>\n All partisan politics aside, however, any \u201cintelligent person\u201d \u2014 to use bin Laden\u2019s terminology \u2014 will realize that whenever double-talking Osama, the self-proclaimed enemy of the U.S., who issued a fatwa in 1998 obligating Muslims to kill and plunder every American they come across \u2014 whenever this same man attacks and defames the Bush administration, he is unwittingly demonstrating that they are doing\u00a0something<\/i>\u00a0right to defeat terrorism. Otherwise, why constantly bother trying to turn U.S. public opinion against them?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" OBL’s three-fold strategy to defeat the West by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers Like all of Osama bin Laden\u2019s previous messages to the West, his most recent communiqu\u00e9 contains three Ladenese trademarks \u2014 lying, defying, and demoralizing \u2014 that are always present whenever the al Qaeda chieftain addresses the West.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[227,774],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1rH","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5390,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/an-encouraging-revelation-bin-ladens-latest-message-in-context\/","url_meta":{"origin":5561,"position":0},"title":"An Encouraging Revelation: Bin Laden’s Latest Message in Context","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers Full of the same old complaints, threats of retaliation, and victim status role that have become mainstays of al Qaeda propaganda, Osama bin Laden\u2019s latest release would seem to offer nothing new. It dwells on the many \u201ccrimes\u201d the West insists on visiting upon the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5528,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/twisted-proverb\/","url_meta":{"origin":5561,"position":1},"title":"Twisted Proverb","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Osama bin Laden's \"Peace to whoever follows guidance\" by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers Whenever Osama bin Laden addresses the West he always prefaces his message with the simple statement, \u201cPeace to whoever follows guidance.\u201d What exactly is bin Laden\u2019s purpose, and what exactly are Americans and Europeans to understand by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5432,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/peace-to-whoever-follows-guidance\/","url_meta":{"origin":5561,"position":2},"title":"Peace to Whoever Follows Guidance","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"More al Qaeda double talk by Raymond Ibrahim National Review Online As with every message directed to the West, Osama bin Laden\u2019s most recent address begins and ends with his hallmark sentence: \u201cPeace to whoever follows guidance.\u201d What exactly are Americans and Europeans to understand by this simple statement? Considering\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2217,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/an-open-question-to-osama-bin-laden-or-any-other-islamist\/","url_meta":{"origin":5561,"position":3},"title":"An Open Question to Osama Bin Laden–or Any Other Islamist","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media Ever since 9\/11, when Osama bin Laden was thrust into the spotlight, he has made it a point to occasionally submit questions to Americans \u2014 questions which he apparently thinks are unanswerable. In\u00a0his last message\u00a0[1] \u201ccommemorating\u201d 9\/11, for instance, after rehashing the storyline that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3281,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/osama-bin-laden-man-of-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":5561,"position":4},"title":"Osama bin Laden: Man of Love?","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim MESH (Middle East Strategy at Harvard) In many ways, Michael Scheuer is the paradigmatic case of an otherwise knowledgeable and experienced Western adult who takes al Qaeda\u2019s word at face value. According to his book,\u00a0Imperial Hubris, his credentials and thus authority to speak about al Qaeda and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5425,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-two-faces-of-al-qaeda\/","url_meta":{"origin":5561,"position":5},"title":"The Two Faces of Al Qaeda","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Chronicle for Higher Education When the September 11 attacks occurred, I was in Fresno, Calif., researching my M.A. thesis on the Battle of Yarmuk, one of the first yet little-known battles between Christendom and Islam, waged in 636 A.D. That battle, in which the Arab invaders were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5561"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5563,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561\/revisions\/5563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}