Despite the claims of Barack Obama being a Muslim and palling around with terrorists, al Qaeda is not very happy with his victory. After having had an American president who has done exactly what they wanted for the past seven years in response to the 9/11 attack, they saw the candidate they preferred, John McCain, go down to defeat. Instead of having a president ignorant enough to play into their hands at every step, they must face a president who actually understands what is going on in the world. They have now released a message responding to Obama’s election:
Al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites.The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Ayman al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites, that Obama is “the direct opposite of honorable black Americans” like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader.
In al-Qaida’s first response to Obama’s victory, al-Zawahri also called the president-elect—along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice—”house negroes.”
Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term “abeed al-beit,” which literally translates as “house slaves.” But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as “house negroes.”
The message also includes old footage of speeches by Malcolm X in which he explains the term, saying black slaves who worked in their white masters’ house were more servile than those who worked in the fields. Malcolm X used the term to criticize black leaders he accused of not standing up to whites.
What is quite amazing about this is that, while al Qaeda prefers the foreign policy of George Bush and John McCain, as John Cole noted in linking back to this previous post, al Qaeda is adopting the racial attitudes of Ralph Nader.
The report concludes with an item which demonstrates my point from this post written yesterday:
But Obama’s professions of support for Israel during the election campaign “confirmed to the Ummah (Islamic world) that you have chosen a stance of hostility to Islam and Muslims,” al-Zawahri said.
While some Republicans are deluded to think they can con Jewish voters into voting Republican with their claims that Obama would not support Israel, Jewish voters overwhelmingly rejected this claim and backed Obama. While the Republican view on Obama’s support for Israel hardly matters, it is significant that groups such as al Qaeda do understand that Obama will support Israel, which might act as a deterrence. Should al Qaeda attack, Obama will retaliate against them directly, and not attack the wrong country as George Bush did.
Thousands upon thousands of Al Queda operatives of course, meeting their maker in the “wrong country” courtesy of George Bush. I enjoy reading your inclusion of “should al Qaeda attack”… as if the mere presence of Barack Obama in the White House might scare them straight. This should be a fun four years. You true hope & change sycophants should be in for a grand eye-opening.
Rico,
Bush’s policies strengthened al Qaeda considerably. Their deaths in Iraq were trivial compared to all the benefits they received from Bush. Bush helped them achieve their number one objective–removing a secular government in the region. Bush’s actions also helped them survive in Afghanistan and recruit many more members throughout the region.
The advantages of Obama have nothing to do with the mere presence of Obama or “hope and change.” It comes from changing to a foreign policy which works to help al Qaeda to directly fighting them, along with changing the conditions which enable them to receive support.
Indications from al Qaeda already show that they are greatly disappointed in Obama’s election and the failure of the candidate they supported. Even if you are not, they are smart enough to realize they can only thrive with a continuation of Bush’s foreign policy.
For example, see this column from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution entitled Obama’s win a nightmare for al-Qaida