Osama Bin Laden Wins the War on Terror
From his perspective, as a Sunni terrorist practicing an extreme form of already extreme Saudi Wahaabism, he has to be feeling on top of the world. When he first issued his declaration of war against the US, he was angry that the US had bases in the sacred land of Saudi Arabia. He was convinced thaty his jihad had bankrupted the Soviet Union and caused its collapse. He wanted to see Israel ruined for its treatment of the Palestinians.
Now, our military bases are gone from Saudi Arabia. Our economy is in recession and came close to a panic. His hated secular foe, Saddam Hussein, is dead. The hated Shias are looking like morons in Iraq and are- in Iran - in a standoff with Western nations. The Palestinians voted in a terrorist organization. Sharia laws are gaining favor again, in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US military is overstretched. The US president’s popularity rating is one of the worst ever in US history. The military government of Pakistan has fallen out of favor and the woman most likely to succeed Musharraf has been assassinated.
The price of oil is at record highs, which helps fund his organization. For him, the loss of a few lieutenants is a small price to pay for all the ways America has been diminished. Our status as a moral superior has been tortured to new lows. The US dollar is just as low.
His victory’s not complete, but considering all that’s occurred - and is occurring still - it’s far closer far faster than he ever could have dreamed. Bush proved a godsend, and he may get another clueless dupe as a sequel.
I overstate it, of course, as Bin Laden didn’t control these outcomes. But he’s been fortunate to find a US President with an amazing capacity to shoot America in its foot. And at this rate, he’s likely to die of natural causes with the US standing much reduced in the world and Sunni extremism very much on the rise.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:38 am
[…] More from Memeorandum: Informed Comment, Attackerman and The Washington Independent. Hot Air (Captain Ed also mentions that foreign investors are finally getting an opportunity to enter the Iraqi oil market. I’ve discussed oil in Iraq extensively, beginning here), American Street (Kevin Hayden focuses on just how bad we botched the War on Terror, and Osama bin Laden didn’t, makes some very good points) and Informed Comment Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]