It Is Still Bin Laden
It Is Still Bin Laden
At a 2002 press conference, President Bush remarked
that Osama bin Laden was “a person who's now been marginalized.”
Some have even joked that bin Laden is, in fact, Bin Forgotten. Far from
being marginalized, al-Qaeda's leader continues to exert considerable authority
over the global jihadist movement, which he had a large role in creating.
It's not simply that each day that bin Laden remains a free man is a morale
booster for his followers around the world, but also that al-Qaeda's leader
continues to supply the overall strategy for his organization's actions
and for the broader ideological movement it has spawned.Since the 9/11 attacks, bin Laden has released around
20 statements on video or audiotape, which have reached audiences of tens
of millions via the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, and other television networks,
and which have had a direct effect on world events. The attacks in London
in July that killed 56—including the four suicide bombers—were
a response to bin Laden's repeated calls to fight countries participating
in the coalition in Iraq, as were the attacks in Madrid a year earlier that
killed 191. An indicator of bin Laden's continued influence is that in 2004
the most feared insurgent commander in Iraq, the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
pledged his allegiance to al-Qaeda's leader. For millions of Muslims
around the world, bin Laden remains an inspirational figure. A worldwide
opinion poll taken by the Pew Global Attitudes Project in 2004 found that
he is viewed favorably by large percentages in Pakistan (65 percent), Jordan
(55 percent), and Morocco (45 percent)—all key U.S. allies in the
war on terrorism.
The
Real bin Laden, an Oral History,
by Peter L. Bergen
 |
Today on “Hardball,” back from his Christmas holiday
in Africa, there was one topic on Chris Matthews' mind. The affect Osama bin
Laden is still having on people around the world, particularly
in Africa. Matthews saw kids with bin Laden baseball caps. His hotel was next
to a madrassa, which drove the point home.
Peter Bergen reminds us in the January Vanity Fair that Osama
bin Laden has not been forgotten, except perhaps by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney,
Donald Rumsfeld, et al. Bergen's new book, The Osama bin Laden I Know,
is a not so gentle reminder that our mortal enemy before and after 9/11 was
and still is Osama. This is the second book in as many weeks, the first was Jawbreaker
by Gary Berntsen,
to remind us how we let bin Laden get away.
But being reminded that our enemy is still Bin Laden also reminds us of how Congress chose to allow the
president to expand his powers without a peep, which allowed Bush to declare war without a declaration from Congress, which
is demanded by our Constitution. It's nothing new and has been happening a lot lately, ever since
Korea, however, that doesn't make it right or constitutional.
It's time to get back to basics. Back to the United States Constitution,
which delineates the powers between the co-equal branches of government, with
what is not outlined specifically, considered simply and wholly outside the
law. It doesn't have to be fought in the courts, but it's a battle that should and must be fought between the Congress and executive branch, because a president doesn't have the right or the power to make things up as he goes along. The current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has gotten away with it for far too long already.
Oh, and one other minor detail, we need to quit picking wars
out of choice and instead only fight the wars that must be fought, which means
that when someone attacks us, we go after the person that launched and planned
the attack, not some convenient, defunked despot that's doable.
About Taylor Marsh
Veteran political analyst and author of "The Hillary Effect - Politics, Sexism and the Destiny of Loss," now available in print at Amazon.com, and 1 of 4 books chosen by Barnes and Noble to launch their "NOOK First" Featured Authors Selection program. Former Miss Missouri, Broadway dancer, & relationship consultant at LA Weekly, produced & wrote one woman show "Weeping for JFK."TM Connect
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