Osama's Pen Pals
Nothing brightens the day of the average psychotic terrorist leader than to get a handwritten letter from his idol, Osama bin Laden. According to Newsweek, Osama's been lettering, sending a few personal missives to terrorist leaders in al-Qaeda and the Taliban. His pen-pal activity intends to keep morale high among the troops, and may indicate that his morale has improved as well:
Osama Bin Laden appears to be reasserting his influence among the Afghan and Pakistani tribal leaders upon whom he's depending for survival. Since December, the Qaeda chief has personally penned at least five brief letters, written in Arabic on white stationery, to the region's militant commanders. For the Taliban's Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, the latest correspondence is the second he's received this year from the "Sheik," as bin Laden is known among jihadis. The first was a letter of condolence after the death of Dadullah's notoriously brutal elder brother, a senior Taliban figure who was killed by Coalition forces in May 2007. An Afghan Taliban official said Mansoor was thrilled to receive the notes. "For the first time the Sheik is … reaching out to individual fighters rather than just broadcasting an audio or videotaped message," says the official, who requested anonymity for security reasons. "It's like a reward for a job well done."According to the Taliban source, bin Laden's letter-writing campaign was inspired by ramped-up military activities on both sides of the rugged border. "He sees the tide turning in his favor." Bin Laden's main point, said the Taliban official, who has seen one of the notes, is that he is "satisfied with the effort and progress of the resistance against Jews and Christians." The holy war against infidels, bin Laden added, is not his personal fight but that of all Muslims. "Jews and Christians," he wrote, "have a long history of opposing any Islamic government that is trying to establish a truly Islamic state based on Sharia law."
And Osama's gang has a long history of killing lots of Muslims as a means of opposing Jews and Christians. They have killed more Muslims over the past five years than anyone else in the world. Their bloody handiwork has been on display in nations around the world, and no more so than in Iraq, where they attempted to start a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shi'ites and killed tens of thousands in the process. They have done the same in Pakistan, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, and other Muslim countries.
Now Osama wants to reach out and touch the hearts of his bloody lunatics. How would a letter from Osama begin? "Dear brother in murder: How are you? Have you killed any infidels today? What glorious work! Oh, and how terrible it is that your particularly murderous brother died the other day. You have my sympathies."
Does anyone else see the laughable irony of Osama sending a sympathy card?
The underlying question of Osama's existence appears answered. If he feels comfortable enough to send out personal notes, he must sense a reduced danger from communications in general. It might eventually give us an opening to discovering his location. We need to press Pervez Musharraf for more cooperation in finding and targeting Osama and sending a note of our own.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on January 28, 2008 6:06 AM | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
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