Thompson: Bin Laden 'More Symbolism Than Anything Else'
Posted by Kombiz Lavasany on September 7, 2007 at 03:12 PM
During the second day on the campaign trail, Fred Thompson's nascent campaign got a lot rougher when he downplayed the importance of catching Osama Bin Laden.
"Bin Laden is more symbolism than anything else. I think it demonstrates to people once again that we're in a global war."
Osama Bin Laden is the leader of Al Qaeda, and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans. It's been more than 2,000 days since President Bush said that we would catch Bin Laden, and we're approaching the anniversary of September 11th.
UPDATE (by Mike): To make things worse, the idea the Bin Laden is just a symbol appears to directly contradict other statements he's making.
This morning on Good Morning America he said "I think the point is clearly he's there, clearly he's somewhere along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and clearly he's still giving orders."
Comments - 17 »
Comments - 17 «
The symbol sent out a new video today and he looks a lot younger and healthier than Thompson. Actually, he looked more alive than any of the Republican presidential candidates.
Can we take this statement to mean that Thompson would prefer to ignore Bin Lauden (just like Bush has) and instead declare a global war on the middle class?
Posted by SandyH on September 7, 2007 at 04:49 PM
Posted by marsh on September 7, 2007 at 05:06 PM
Amazing, Republicans claim they're better for defending our country and at the same time call that mass-murderer a "symbol" rather than an evil man who should have been caught already and brought to justice.
How can Iraq be the central front in our "war" on terror when Bin Laden isn't there?
Posted by JKAR on September 7, 2007 at 05:08 PM
JKAR:
Osama bin Laden is BUSH'S childhood and adult friend and Fred Thompson is correct about the symbol part as Osama bin Laden will NEVER be caught by the DLC-BUSH administration as his name was just being used as a symbol to scare the 70% MAJORITY COMMON POPULATION of the United States and the world into thinking there was a legitimate attack that the United States could do nothing about, so that war with Afghanistan and Iraq would be a "piece of cake", and it was. It was all lies. Thousands of people died, but it was all lies.
The WORLD TRADE CENTER'S 3 buildings were destroyed by demolition which was an INSIDE JOB by our own government, and the planes were flown by REMOTE CONTROL. Osama bin Laden's movies and his name have been used to keep fear instilled and are still being used to promote fear to get people to vote REPUBLICAN. Osama bin Laden's movies and his threats usually show up close to election time to remind people of terror, that terror is real and reinforce their fear, so that the DLC and BUSH REPUBLICANS can continue making money off their terror wars.
The only terror there is to fear is the DLC and the BUSH administration RIGHT WING COALITION.
Posted by _MarthaA on September 7, 2007 at 11:13 PM
Posted by davidual on September 8, 2007 at 01:19 AM
I think he's probably right. Bin Laden appears to have faded into the backdrop as Zawahiri has taken over more of the day-to-day running of the network, such as it is.
What was most interesting, I thought, was Bin Laden's wide range of issues and his citing of Noam Chomsky, talking about mortgages and global warming, etc. Former RAND terrorism expert and current Georgetown University Professor Bruce Hoffman and US Institute of Peace Fellow Mohammed Hafez both argued on The NewsHour that Bin Laden is trying to build up a base of support among anti-establisment, anti-globalist youth, particularly in Europe. Interestingly, while participants in the banlieu riots or the demonstrations against the Muhammed cartoons were 'ethnic' Muslims from South Asia or the Middle East, many of the al-Qaeda linked or inspired terrorists are converts (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/july-dec07/binladen_09-07.html).
Posted by LessThanExpert on September 8, 2007 at 08:43 AM
LessThanExpert:
You sound like a cat trying desperately to cover up his dung. Just because something is on NPR doesn't mean it is not RIGHT WING PROPAGANDA.
There is NO ARAB, other than BUSH'S pet ARAB, that only appears at election time just so DLC & REPUBLICANS can fool the public into believing there is an ARAB terror to fear, so the 70% COMMON POPULATION will vote for REPUBLICANS who are suppose to be saving them from terror. Faux-terror of Osama is not the problem, it is the DLC/RIGHT WING EXTREME in our own country that the 70% MAJORITY COMMON POPULATION NEED TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT.
Posted by _MarthaA on September 8, 2007 at 01:11 PM
CREATING A GOVERNMENT "BY THE PEOPLE"
“The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.”
-- George Washington, 1787
http://www.nationalinitiative.us
The National Initiative for Democracy is a proposed law developed by The Democracy Foundation, over the past decade, along with a plan to get it enacted by the people (not by the government) creating, for the first time, a government "by you, the people."
The National Initiative includes a constitutional amendment and a federal statute that equips the people with the central power of government, lawmaking. As lawmakers, the people in every government jurisdiction of the United States become a new Check in our system of Checks and Balances designed to control the abuses of government. Representative government remains unaltered except for the partnership established between the people and their elected legislators.
For more info, read these 3 pages:
1. Concept of National Initiative
2. America DOES NOT have a Government "By the People"
3. The National Initiative for Democracy
http://www.nationalinitiative.us
LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE
Philadelphia II is conducting a national election on behalf of the American people, to give them the opportunity to vote on the National Initiative. Learn more about the National Initiative and then cast your vote. We, the People, created the government, only we can change it.
Our Plan:
* Make American voters aware of the National Initiative
* American voters vote on the National Initiative
* Some voters donate to finance the election
* More voters become aware, vote and donate
* The cycle repeats itself like a closed circuit
* When the number of "yes" votes exceeds 50,000,000, the National Initiative becomes the law of the land.
Vote
DONATE
The National Initiative will only become law if we can secure the necessary financial support. No donation is too small. A million voters donating $5 per month will create a cash flow to enact the National Initiative. Huge sums of money are spent by special interests to control the legislative agendas of our elected officials. We, the People, must fund the National Initiative if we are ever to control the publics agendas and have a government "by the people."
http://www.nationalinitiative.us
Posted by _MarthaA on September 8, 2007 at 02:10 PM
*******MIKE GRAVEL FOR PRESIDENT 2008*******
In 1971, Mike Gravel waged a successful one-man filibuster for five months that forced the Nixon administration to cut a deal, effectively ending the draft in the United States. Mike Gravel, perhaps, is best known for his release of the Pentagon Papers, the secret official study that revealed the lies and manipulations of successive U.S. administrations that misled the country into the Vietnam War.
Today, Mike Gravel has come back to politics because the United States needs a president with his background now more than ever to take on the military-industrial complex and to fix the damage that has been done to our great country. Please make a donation to help Mike Gravel take back Washington from those who seek to saddle the United States with more wars and debt.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=gravel2008
http://www.gravel2008.us/
Posted by _MarthaA on September 8, 2007 at 07:41 PM
What's with this Fred dude/ First he ducks debates and now he talks totally STUPID/
Posted by demoboy on September 8, 2007 at 10:05 PM
MarthA - Who are you? What LessThanExpert said is what the majority of Middle Eastern experts have agreed upon, since of course you are all into the majority. Let me ask you something: Are you a Middle East expert? Do you speak Arabic? Do you even have a Middle Eastern friend? I can answer yes to all. Can you? And yet again, you take a perfectly sane argument and twist it to fit your propaganda. Taking a page from your playbook: you continue the Name calling and Generalities while expounding the almost robotic "well, we have to be concerned about the 70% common majority" line. You are a robot of the DNC. It's like a mantra to you. A knee jerk. These Middle East experts know what they are talking about and for the most part are correct. Osama is on dialysis. He's got a major kidney problem. He is the figurehead of the network much like the Queen of England is a figurehead; deeply respected, but no real power anymore. The day to day operations are most likely in the hands of other cadre. Wake up and get your head out of the propaganda playbook.
Posted by RushBabies on September 10, 2007 at 10:01 PM
RushBabies:
You are correct, Osama bin Laden is on dialysis.
You are correct, Osama bin Laden has a major kidney disease.
You are correct, Osama bin Laden has NO real power.
Posted by _MarthaA on September 11, 2007 at 08:24 PM
RUSHBABIES,YOU HAVE ALOT OF NERVE TALKING ABOUT PROAGANDA WHEN THATS ALL THE NEOCONS HAVE DONE FROM THE BEGINNING (WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION,IF THE TERRORISTS ARE IN IRAQ THEY ARNT HERE,9/11 AND IRAQ ARE CONNECTED)THATS PROPAGANDA,OR DO YOU REALY BELIEVE THAT COLLECTION OF FALSEHOODS? BLINDERS AGAIN!
Posted by peaceman on September 12, 2007 at 01:26 PM
I am so tired of these people deciding that they want to be president for no other reason than the fact that they just want to. If he doesn't realize that Bin Laden is a real person and not a symbol....then he needs to stick to acting!
Posted by mdblkwmn on September 12, 2007 at 04:28 PM
Peaceman - You've got it confused. What you listed are called lies. And there is a shade of difference - depending on who is writing. I've done my integrity check today. The truth is always the best antidote. While alot of what we read about Osama should be taken with a grain of salt, there has to be some kind of truth to it all. When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. There are credible and well researched sources that back up the claim that it is possible Osama is not running the whole show like we think and that it is very possible that one of his top lieutenants is running the network while the leader is ill. Castro does it. Osama's image on a video tape on the anniversary of 9/11. There is symbolism there. The man that planned the slaughter of thousands of Americans and brought down the World Trade Towers. Darn right there is symbolism there. It's a terrorist scare tactic used to keep Americans perpetually in fear of the man six years after 9/11.
Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama ISBN 0-7432-0502-2
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/28/eveningnews/main325887.shtml
Posted by RushBabies on September 13, 2007 at 12:02 AM
MarthaA - I failed to read th earlier posts. Thats my fault. If it were an inside job, like you claim, then how do you explain the bodyparts of flight attendants still bound with flexi cuffs attached to doors and the deaths of the people trapped inside the burning buildings? An INSIDE JOB by OUR GOVERNMENT?? That's dilluted! Now I know who really has blinders on! What in the world?!? You dare to dishonor the victims and their families as well as the FDNY personnel who lost their lives with this drivel? Nothing but unworthy, disrespectful drivel. What eveidance to have to back up this disgusting accusation?
Posted by RushBabies on September 13, 2007 at 12:22 AM
Posted by _MarthaA on September 13, 2007 at 10:35 PM
« Hide Comments
Comments are now closed for this entry.