On Sunday, both Osama bin Laden and Ted Kennedy took to the airwaves.
There is still no transcript available for Kennedy's appearance on Sunday's Meet the Press.
Why the delay?
Is it so difficult to transcribe Ted Kennedy's words?
I thought he spoke relatively clearly during his interview, not too much of the slurring we've come to expect from Kennedy.
(Note: FINALLY, NBC posted its transcript. The portions I transcribed more accurately depict Kennedy's stuttering and run-on delivery.)
Of course, Kennedy has been on a promotional blitz for his new book, America: Back on Track.
I think that's a poor title. Getting back on track implies that America has been off the road. Anything that subliminally conjures up images of Teddy and running off the road is a mistake.
But I digress. Back to Meet the Press.
I want to focus on two things -- what Kennedy said about Iraq and what he said about Osama bin Laden.
First, Iraq.
Kennedy wants the troops to come home -- NOW. He wants the U.S. out of Iraq, claiming that if we haven't solved things militarily by now, there's not much more we can do. The Iraqis have to stand up for their own country.
He said, "The fact is what we are talking about, we have been there now, we have been there as long as we have been there in the Korean war, and we'll be there as long as we've been there in World War II...
What?
Is Teddy having blackouts again. We're still in Korea and Europe.
He went on, "Let me just say with regards to cutting and running, the people that are cutting and running are the administration when it comes to truth about Iraq and about their policies in Iraq, about the misguided information, the lack of intelligence, and the misinformation that they gave the American people as the basis for the invasion of Iraq, and the continued misinterpretation that I think that has been more damaging to the United States, and the United States interests there."
I am so sick of Dems talking about the misinformation and lies touted by the Bush Administration when they spouted the same stuff about Iraq and Saddam's regime as the truth.
Kennedy said in October, 2002, "There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein's regime is a serious danger, that he is a tyrant, and that his pursuit of lethal weapons of mass destruction cannot be tolerated. He must be disarmed."
Read more from the Dems.
The world was in agreement about the threat that Saddam posed to peace.
It is misinformation on the part of Kennedy and others to state that the threat claims were concocted by the Bush Administration. That's a lie.
Now, bin Laden.
Russert brought up the latest audio tape to surface from Osama bin Laden. With all the innocence of a child, Russert asked, "Why can't we capture him?"
Kennedy blustered, "Why did we abandon the, uh, the effort to capture him and divert our attention? I think that is the diversion of the War on Terror.
"We went into Iraq instead of continuing to focus uh, the, uh, on Osama bin Laden and the War on Terror. We had them on the run. We had them in, uh, uh, the Tora Bora, in the mountains there. We had them in other areas, uh, in those mountainous regions. And we have effectively abandoned that to move into Iraq.
"That was a very dangerous mistake, and the idea that he hasn't been captured today I think is a, a real blunder by the administration. That is the direction we should be in a, fighting the War on Terror rather than go in, in a trumped up intelligence into the, into Iraq and the cost of Iraq is just overwhelming, and continuing, and ongoing, and that has to end."
Yes, he was rambling and stuttering.
I can't stand it when Kennedy and John Kerry, etc., whine about how we could have had bin Laden in Tora Bora, when Bill Clinton refused to take bin Laden when the Sudan offered him to the U.S. in 1996.
THAT was a "very dangerous mistake."
"The idea that [bin Laden] hasn't been captured today" is the "real blunder by the administration," Clinton's administration.
One cannot blame Bush for failing to get bin Laden without acknowledging that Clinton had the chance to take him but passed. Clinton's inaction on bin Laden stands as one of the worst errors made by a president in the history of our country.
So Sunday, we were treated to more of bin Laden's threats.
Transcript of bin Laden's latest message to the West.
Like Kennedy, bin Laden rambles.
(Excerpts)
Peace, Allah's mercy and blessing be upon you, as I am directing this speech to all the Islamic Umma, to continue talking and urging them to support our prophet Muhammad, and to punish the perpetrators of the horrible crime committed by some Crusader-journalists and apostates against the master of the predecessors and successors, our prophet Muhammad.
...The Palestine question is a manifestation of such injustices when the allied forces of the Crusaders and the Zionists decided to hand over Palestine to the Zionists to establish a state after committing massacres, displaced the indigenous Palestinians and brought Jews from all over the world to settle in Palestine.
The ongoing injustice and aggression did not stop in the last nine decades, while all attempts to reclaim our rights and exact justice on the Israeli oppressors, were blocked by the leadership of the Crusaders and Zionists' alliance by using the so-called veto power.
Such attitudes were also reflected by their rejection of the Hamas movement and its victory in the elections ... . Their rejection to Hamas has reaffirmed that they were waging a crusade against Islam.
...This is a continuous Crusader-Zionist war against Muslims. In this respect I am inviting the mujahidin and their supporters in the Sudan and other countries around, including the Arabian peninsula in particular, to prepare all that is needed for a long-term war against the Crusaders and thieves in western Sudan.
Our objective is obvious, that is defending Islam, the people and the land but not Khartoum government since our differences with them are so enormous, mostly when it backtracked in implementing the Sharia law and abandoned south Sudan.
...What does the reoccupation of Iraq mean by using lies and deception along with murder, destruction, detention, torture and creation of huge military bases to dominate the whole region? It is a Zionist crusade against Muslims.
What about the continuous cultural domination through the setting up of radio stations and TV channels along with the Voice of America, London and others to continue the cultural domination of Muslims, combat our beliefs, change our values, encourage vice and even interfere with school curricula?
How can we explain France's stance on the headscarf and the banning on wearing it at schools, its relentless dealing with the Muslim community and its plan to establish a TV channel in Morocco to combat Islamic awareness there? This is a Zionist-Crusader war.
In conclusion, a war is under way to offend the messenger of Allah, his religion and his Umma (nation). The Muslim preparedness and their jihad should be on a par with these events. The duty of our Muslim nation over this Crusaders' campaign with its different aspects is to focus on supporting the prophet, his religion and the Umma to the best of our ability in all fields.
Despite the numerous Crusader attacks against our Muslim nation in military, economic, cultural and moral aspects, but the gravest of them all is the attack against our religion, our prophet and the our Sharia tenets. The epicentre of these wars is Baghdad, the seat of the khalifate rule. They keep reiterating that success in Baghdad will be success for the US, failure in Iraq the failure of the US.
Their defeat in Iraq will mean defeat in all their wars and a beginning to the receding of their Zionist-Crusader tide against us. Your mujahidin sons and brothers in Iraq have taught the US a hard lesson while in the fourth year of the Crusaders' invasion, they are steadfast and patient and keep killing and wounding enemy soldiers every day.
It is a duty for the Umma with all its categories, men, women and youths, to give away themselves, their money, experiences and all types of material support, enough to establish jihad in the fields of jihad particularly in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Sudan, Kashmir and Chechnya. Jihad today is an imperative for every Muslim. The Umma will commit sin if it did not provide adequate material support for jihad.
Bin Laden certainly has a long list of grievances, doesn't he?
Yes, he's a real motivational speaker.
Long story short--
Bin Laden is putting out the rallying cry to kill the infidels, and reminding Muslims of their responsibilities.
"Jihad today is an imperative for every Muslim."
If a videotape from bin Laden that called on Muslims to respect life, practice tolerance, and promote peace ran on Aljazeera, THAT would be news.
This is just more of bin Laden's typical rot.
To sum up the messages that Ted Kennedy and Osama bin Laden relayed to the television audience--
Kennedy hates Bush and wants to see his presidency obliterated.
Bin Laden hates Kennedy and Bush and all infidels and wants to see Israel and the West obliterated.
