"I call on mujahedeen and their supporters, especially in Sudan and the Arab peninsula, to prepare for long war again the crusader plunderers in Western Sudan. Our goal is not defending the Khartoum government but to defend Islam, its land and its people," bin Laden purportedly said.Sudan is currently embroiled in the genocide in Darfur, which is being perpetrated by the janjaweed who have been freely operating in Sudan without interference from the government in Khartoum. The Sudanese government doesn't seem to mind the janjaweed killing hundreds of thousands of Darfur residents and running them out of the country if they're not first killed or raped. The African Union is scheduled to end its current tour April 30, and the UN has been unable to agree on how to proceed.
It was the first purported new message from bin Laden since Jan. 19. In that audiotape, he warned that his fighters were preparing new attacks in the United States but offered the American people a "long- term truce" without specifying the conditions.
Sudan was the former home to Osama before he made his way to Afghanistan. Osama knows that his organization has been taking a beating throughout the world and needs a new home for operations. The lawless regions of the world are an incubator for terrorists and Sudan fits the bill - complete with a government in Khartoum that doesn't appear to have problems with Islamists running around killing folks.
China and Russia oppose action in Sudan because they need the oil.
Ranting Profs notes that the Times mentions Mary McCarthy, who was fired Friday for leaking classified information, in relation to the 1998 bombing of the pharmaceutical plant in Sudan.
This once again reaffirms my contention that inaction on Darfur will have consequences far in excess of just stopping a genocide. It could thwart the reemergence of Sudan as a base of operations for the likes of al Qaeda. And the only way to do so is not to engage in another useless peacekeeping operation that is staffed by soldiers who are unable to defend the refugees because inane rules of operation prohibit attacking those who seek to do harm. We need to engage in peacemaking, which goes after the source of the problems - the government in Khartoum that is unwilling or complicit in the violence in Darfur.
Also noting Osama's latest missive: The Counterterrorism Blog and Freedom For Some.
UPDATE:
Others blogging Osama's latest: The Political Pit Bull, Stop the ACLU, Wizbang.
Tigerhawk notes what was notable by its absence in Osama's purported tape: Iraq.
Al Qaeda drew a line in the sands of the Sunni Triangle, and the United States Army and Marines walked right across it. First, al Qaeda tried to kill Americans, per bin Laden's orders. It largely failed. Then al Qaeda went after America's allies, and succeeded only in turning public opinion against itself in every Muslim country it attacked. After thirty months of battlefield defeats and political embarrassments, bin Laden won't even mention Iraq in one of his rare public utterances, and he rallies his troops to fight a war where American soldiers aren't. How humiliating. How delightful.AJ Strata seems to think that the OBL effect on the American public isn't particularly high. That's progress and worrisome all that the same time. It means that the US has done a great job eliminating terror threats around the world, making it more difficult for al Qaeda to launch terror attacks against the US, especially in the US. Yet, I fear that people may become complacent because they perceive that the danger has past.
Al Qaeda has lost in Iraq, and bin Laden is desperate to change the subject. He and his organization are at grave risk of being discredited, and when that happens it will be much harder for al Qaeda to attract recruits, raise money, or deal with governments.
Austin Bay and Pamela at Atlas Shrugs also keys in on the Sudan comments. Austin thinks that Osama is making a huge mistake trying to start an anti-UN jihad focused on Darfur.
No comments:
Post a Comment