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| Terror Networks |
| Al-Qaeda sinking in the polls |
| 2007-09-20 |
| By Karen Hughes The recent video reappearance of Osama bin Laden is a stark reminder that murderous extremists continue to threaten innocent people worldwide. His emergence - after three years of hiding - also provides an opportunity to reevaluate bin Laden's standing in majority-Muslim countries. Several reputable polls show that bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network have suffered a dramatic decline in approval among Muslims since the September 11 terrorist attacks. Polling in Afghanistan and Iraq, for example, reveal that more than 90 percent of those populations have unfavorable views of AI-Qaeda and of bin Laden himself. This astonishingly high rate of disfavor no doubt reflects the horrible violence that these two populations have suffered at the hands of bin-Laden and his network of killers. Just two years ago in Turkey, polls showed that 90 percent of citizens there believe that the Al-Qaeda bombings in London, Istanbul, Madrid and Egypt were unjust; 86 percent thought that there was no excuse for condoning the September 11 attacks; and 75 percent said bin Laden does not represent Muslims. Another study shows that since 2002 support for terrorist tactics has fallen - often dramatically - in seven of eight predominantly Muslim countries that were polled as part of the Pew Global Attitudes Project (www.pewglobal.org). Five years ago in Lebanon, 74 percent of the population agreed that suicide bombing could sometimes be justified. Today, only 34 percent hold that view - still too high, but a stark reversal nonetheless. Similar declines in support have also occurred in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indo nesia and Jordan. Equally significant, Muslims the world over are openly rejecting bin Laden's attempts to pervert their faith. WorldPublicOpinion.org (www.worldpublicopinion.org) found in April that large majorities in Egypt (88 percent), Indonesia (65 percent) and Morocco (66 percent) agree that groups such as Al-Qaeda violate the principles of Islam. These shifts in attitude are beginning to show up in actions. Sunni leaders in Iraq's Anbar Province are working with coalition forces against Al-Qaeda because they say the terrorists bring only chaos, "Killing people, stealing. . . , everything, you name it," as one local leader commented. Osama bin Laden's recent tape was a reminder that he and his network offer only destruction and death. Their attacks on mosques, shrines and even wedding celebrations confirm that they care nothing about innocent Muslims. As one woman in Algeria put it, "They are criminals who want to sabotage the country." That is a message bin Laden will not convey on tape, but one that his actions make clear. Six years after September 11, good and decent people of many faiths and cultures are increasingly rejecting his brutal methods. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Bush brought in Hughes to deal with (and shut the f' up) the prattling Left and RINOs, whose demands for a "hearts and minds" campaign in the Middle East had become so annoying and cloying that someone - Hughes - was assigned to make empty gestures to get that crap off the table and those people to quiet down. And that's exactly what she's doing - making empty, meaningless gestures to keep the "can't we all just be friends" crowd quiet while Bush sees if he can get something going on the ground in Iraq to turn the situation around. Remember when the whole country was up in arms about how we keep dropping bombs and not "listening" and not doing "outreach" and not forming "cultural bridges"? Where'd all that pointless drivel go? That is Hughes' job - to make all that crap go down to a simmer by making empty gestures, so Bush can concentrate on the war. At least that's what I think, but I've overestimated how much strategy is going on over at Bush headquarters in the past. Maybe it's not that strategic; maybe it's the same nepotism that got Harriet Myers nominated for the Supreme Court. But if it's a strategy, as opposed to nepotism, it's not that bad a strategy. The press eats that sh*t up. Says a poster at Atlas Shrugged, which I found whilst trying to see why Sea is so annoyed with Karen Hughes. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-09-20 11:23 |
| #2 Notice how OBL and Congress are seeing both their numbers tank. Coincidence? Ever notice that you never see OBL and Harry Reid in the same |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-09-20 09:35 |
| #1 I don't like Karen Hughes, her policies or her actions. I find this op-ed piece to be particularly useless. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-09-20 00:16 |