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| Bin Laden's War of Words
by John M. Curtis Copyright September 20, 2001
Bin Laden’s ‘jihad’ is about exploiting Islam and innocent Muslims to serve his killing machine, while he lashes out at the civilized world. His convoluted thinking harks back to Pope Urban II’s first Crusade—stopping persecution of Christian pilgrims by Seljuk Turks—to retake Jerusalem in 1095. Christians eventually got their payback by the Ottoman Turks with relentless sacking and the eventual fall of Constantinople [modern day Istanbul] and the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Recent objections to President George W. Bush’s references to his “crusade” on terrorism highlight sensitivities still lingering in the Islamic world. Bin Laden’s keen appreciation of history and his clever manipulation of the Koran ring a bell with beaten down Muslims in radical regimes. Mired in poverty and distress, Bin Laden recruits true believers struggling to survive. Like a cult master, he capitalizes on despair and gives false hope, promising lost souls salvation in the afterlife for dying as martyrs. Like most radicals, Bin Laden is handicapped by his delusion that he’s leading a war of liberation against Western invaders. Playing terrorist, he’s a strange cross between Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara and the psycho unibomber Ted Kazinsky—though his killing spree and ranting resemble the insane math genius. Bin Laden is no revolutionary: He’s a dangerous outlaw hiding behind Islam to legitimize his murderous rage. His constant references to Islamic oppression provide convenient excuses to ignore failures of radical regimes. Bin Laden’s obsession with creating worldwide Islamic state drives him to use terror and violence. Like the Ottoman Turks, Bin Laden wants to revive the military and moral superiority of pan-Islamicism.—galvanizing a bloodthirsty mass movement to pay back the West. In Bin Laden’s paranoid world, Muslims are constantly under siege and must lash out. Demonizing America takes the heat off radical regimes but doesn’t improve the abysmal conditions. Nowhere is the contempt for America more evident than in the religious schools around the Islamic world, indoctrinating students to believe outrageous lies about the West. Even man-made catastrophes like the World Trade Center bombing take on twisted meanings. “In our opinion, this was all done by the Jews to turn American powers against the Muslim people,” said Moulana Sayed Zainularaiffeen, principal at the Rahatabad School in Peshawar, Pakistan, displaying the cultural paranoia that leaves ordinary Muslims grossly misinformed. “America’s wealth, its resources are in the hands of Jews and they are not using it for a noble cause,” said Syed Inayetullah, an 18-year-old student in his third year at the Rahatabad religious school. Brainwashing and prejudice abound in Islamic parochial schools. Countering massive disinformation represents a stubborn obstacle to the White House trying to make its case. As Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf sides with the U.S., he faces stiff resistance—and possible revolution— cracking through his country’s misconceptions. Propagandists like Bin Laden manipulate perceptions and bend reality to fit their political ambitions. Without countering toxic propaganda, the U.S. faces heavy opposition trying to prosecute Operation Infinite Justice. Changing world opinion requires challenging Bin Laden’s disinformation machine, especially blaming the U.S. response on a war against Islam. As long as Bin Laden wins the propaganda battle, the U.S. cannot make its case for bringing justice to the perpetrators of mass murder and destruction. Reassuring Islam, the White House must forcefully reject Bin Laden’s claim that America has it in for Muslims. If Bin Laden keeps the debate focused on historical battles at Mecca and Medina or Al-Aqsa Mosque, the U.S. won’t get fair-minded Muslims to accept U.S. intervention. Winning the propaganda battle breaks down the morale of ‘holy warriors’ trying to remain inspired by an empty cause. Taking to the airwaves, the White House needs to remind Muslims that Osama bin Laden is a dangerous madman hell-bent on trashing Islam to satisfy his murderous propensities. Nowhere should the White House permit Bin Laden to take the moral high ground by falsely accusing the U.S. of subverting Islam. Bin Laden’s propaganda machine must be stopped. More treacherous than any battlefield, America must win the war of words. No one should accept his perverted use of Islam to justify an obsession with mayhem. No political or religious cause justifies the wholesale slaughter of 7,000 civilians. His barbaric acts in New York prove that he’s driven by rage and insanity, not protecting the interests of Islam. Nowhere is Bin Laden’s evil more obvious than converting innocent children into programmed assassins. Not only must the U.S. defeat Bin Laden in foxholes, it must expose his true motives to a watching world. Bin Laden’s artistry at twisting reality to justify his killing spree should be obvious to almost everyone. Exploiting Islam can no longer blind Muslims from seeing how he’s actually trashing the religion he claims to be saving. Despite all the spin, the U.S. must patiently dismantle Bin Laden’s propaganda mill one press release and sound bite at a time. Getting out America’s message, President Bush is already well on his way. About the Author John M. Curtis is editor of OnlineColumnist.com and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He’s director of a Los Angeles think tank specializing in political consulting and strategic public relations. He’s the author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma. |
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pewing more soot than Mount Edna, madman Saudi renegade Osama bin Laden knows the disinformation game inside out, whipping up the faithful to feed his obsession with mass murder and destruction. But let there be no mistake, his terrorist skills are far eclipsed by his prodigious talents at propaganda gleaned from examples like Mao Tse-Tung and Adolf Hitler. Like Hitler’s diabolical diatribe Mein Kampf, Bin Laden’s twisted 1996 manifesto called the Ladenese Epistle also oozes racist overtones —incoherent ramblings of a madman declaring war on America, Jews and “Crusaders.” Quoting heavily from the Koran, Bin Laden vents his rage at the civilized world—after being disowned by his family and expatriated from Saudi Arabia. Unknown to his followers, he cleverly hides his rotten core. Bin Laden—not Islam—has a problem with U.S. forces on sacred Saudi soil. Referring to the culprits arrested for the bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa, “They managed to rid the Islamic nation of disgrace . . .” said Bin Laden in a 1998 ABC News interview, justifying his lust for bombing and carnage.|
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