Comments on: Degraded http://www.yourish.com/2008/09/25/5378 Cutting straight to the point Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:14:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Lefty http://www.yourish.com/2008/09/25/5378/comment-page-1#comment-33567 Lefty Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:14:15 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/?p=5378#comment-33567 I don't think bin Laden was promising safety to American states that voted for Kerry four years ago, I think he was trying to intimidate states into seceding from the Union. See "You Spoke Too Soon, MEMRI!" at: http://slate.msn.com/id/2108954/&#upgrade . (I'm reader P.C., by the way.) Crazy as it sounds, it has a certain logic to it. Bin Laden may have been thinking that the USSR broke up after entangling itself in Afghanistan, so why not the USA? With that in mind, I doubt that al-Qaida cares much about who wins the election. The idea that they're deliberately holding off attacks to help elect Obama strikes me as looney: neither candidate is propsing a foreign policy AQ would consider remotely acceptable, in AQ's view there's only a dime's width of difference between the candidates. I don’t think bin Laden was promising safety to American states that voted for Kerry four years ago, I think he was trying to intimidate states into seceding from the Union. See “You Spoke Too Soon, MEMRI!” at: http://slate.msn.com/id/2108954/&#upgrade . (I’m reader P.C., by the way.) Crazy as it sounds, it has a certain logic to it. Bin Laden may have been thinking that the USSR broke up after entangling itself in Afghanistan, so why not the USA?

With that in mind, I doubt that al-Qaida cares much about who wins the election. The idea that they’re deliberately holding off attacks to help elect Obama strikes me as looney: neither candidate is propsing a foreign policy AQ would consider remotely acceptable, in AQ’s view there’s only a dime’s width of difference between the candidates.

]]> By: IMsPa http://www.yourish.com/2008/09/25/5378/comment-page-1#comment-33565 IMsPa Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:41:59 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/?p=5378#comment-33565 I appreciate all your posts, but I really don't think Al Qaeda much cares who is in office. Moreover, they have made two rather high profile attacks in recent days: the Yemen embassy attack and the Islamabad Marriott attack (the most western target in Pakistan). Al Qaeda is limited to opportunistic strikes and will not pass one up simply because it may have some impact on the US elections. They are ideologically, not strategically, motivated. To the extent that strategy is involved it is primarily operational with the more general desire to hit the largest profile targets possible. I appreciate all your posts, but I really don’t think Al Qaeda much cares who is in office. Moreover, they have made two rather high profile attacks in recent days: the Yemen embassy attack and the Islamabad Marriott attack (the most western target in Pakistan). Al Qaeda is limited to opportunistic strikes and will not pass one up simply because it may have some impact on the US elections. They are ideologically, not strategically, motivated. To the extent that strategy is involved it is primarily operational with the more general desire to hit the largest profile targets possible.

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