Strange Bedfellows
July 21
Bush and Bin Laden: Buddies?
The Bush family and the Bin Laden family have a long history of friendship, although that is not really what this post is about. In fact, the first President Bush was having breakfast with a member of the Bin Laden family when the first hijacked airplane struck the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. When it comes to Osama Bin Laden and George W. Bush, they consider themselves to be enemies of the greatest magnitude, but the fact is that, they need each other. Without the likes of George W. Bush and his policies, Bin Laden would have no westerners to rant and rave about (perhaps he would settle in that case for complaining and sabotaging the Saudi royal family). Without Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda buddies, George W. Bush would have never had the excuse he needed to begin his holy "war on terror," leading to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush's popularity surged greatly, albeit temporarily, after 9/11/2001, popularity he owed to Osama Bin Laden. Similarly, Bin Laden's popularity surged among anti-western elements, at least, in the Middle East at that same time. The entire "war on terror" has been a great publicity and recruiting tool for Al Qaeda. Meanwhile, due to Bush's warmongering reaction to Al Qaeda's terrorism, he has succeeded in burdening the United States with two costly occupations (Afghanistan and Iraq). Also, due to Bush's fondness of and cooperation with the Saudi royal family (oil buddies), Bin Laden has succeeded in getting the U.S. military out of Saudi Arabia. (Saudi Arabia seems to be about the only place the U.S. military isn't these days.)
What is Bush getting out of the situation with Bin Laden nowadays? Well, for one thing, even though the Bush Administration's popularity as a whole has plummeted, the "war on terror" is still an effective rallying cry among the more "hawkish" types in America, mostly fellow conservative Republicans. It forms the basis of John McCain's presidential campaign, as a matter of fact. They will never stop talking about 9/11/2001 or let us citizens of the United States sleep peacefully at night without worrying about remotely possible terrorist plots which are unlikely scenarios ever to be realized, anyway -- scenarios such as terrorists acquiring and exploding an atomic bomb in a major U.S. city. Personally, I seriously doubt that even the most dedicated terrorist is so evil or cavalier about the lives of innocent people as to do such a thing. But as long as it remains a possibility, it is something that the paranoid warmongers of America can hold over every American's head. "What if it happened?" they exclaim. "Wouldn't you regret not having gone after Al Qaeda?" The truth is, that terrorism is more likely to happen, the more violently we go after the terrorists. That is exactly what they want, and need as an excuse to hate us. The truth is, that terrorists are criminals and they should be pursued by police forces, as the Saudis have successfully done in Saudi Arabia, or for that matter, as American crime-fighting forces have kept the mafia under control here in the United States. The truth about terrorism is, that although it steeps the public in fear, it is only an occasional crime, and there are many worse problems in our society which do not recieve the attention that terrorism does. However, fighting terrorism in the manly military fashion remains an effective -- and divisive -- political ploy.
Have you ever wondered, as I have, why the Bush Administration does not really seem very interested in capturing Osama Bin Laden? The conclusion that I have come to is that he is the bogie-man, the monster that the current administration needs in order to justify its militaristic policies. I could be mistaken. They did capture and execute Saddam Hussein, and killed his sons. They have captured some high-level Al Qaeda operatives. But it seems to me, that Osama Bin Laden, as the poster boy for terrorism, is the one terrorist that the Bush Administration is truly afraid to get their hands on, or kill off. Without him, there would not be an identifiable face to the so-called "war on terror." People who see the world simplistically and dichomomously, as Bush seems to, need an archenemy, much as a Hollywood action movie does. If the plot is going to continue, if there is to be a sequel starring John McCain, they need to keep the chief villain alive. And so Bush and his cronies need to make war, even when the war is counterproductive, in order to justify their world view. And they need to call it a war, even when it is really an occupation, in order to portray their actions as being made for some great cause, even though the real cause for which they make Americans fight is to help them hold onto power, and hold onto a delusional world view. As long as the Bushies and the Bin Laden's of the world continue to fight, they will continue to feed each other's causes -- and remain best enemies, as it were. It is the responsibility of politicians and citizens of the world, not to be fooled by the machinations of the Bushs and Bin Ladens of the world, and not to stand for their brand of destruction waged for their own deluded sense of glory.