MyDD :: Exactly What Bin Laden Wants

Exactly What Bin Laden Wants

by Scott Shields, Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 03:59:08 PM EST

Stirling Newberry makes a really important point about traditional media figures like Chris Matthews comparing Democrats to Osama bin Laden. In doing so, Matthews is doing exactly what bin Laden wants. This was one of the most frightening things about bin Laden in my mind. He understands the American media and is fairly adept at manipulating them.

When bin Laden cites domestic polling figures or mainstream criticisms of Bush, he's not doing it because he's a fan of Michael Moore or Howard Dean or reads the New York Times, as Matthews and his fellow talking heads Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson insist. Likewise, as Rachel Maddow points out, when he adopts Republican talking points, he's not doing it because he supports the GOP. He obviously doesn't care about the political affiliation of the people he kills. The reason bin Laden says these things is to create tension among the American electorate. It's a standard tactic of war and it's frustrating to see the media take the bait without question.

Bin Laden's goal is tearing America down. He doesn't care if it takes airplanes crashing into buildings or fomenting a civil war. It's all just means to an end. On this front, it seems that he might be having some success, as evidenced by the rhetoric coming from the right and accepted as conventional wisdom by people like Matthews. I've seen a few commenters question why we are so worked up over Matthews' stupidity. This is why. The narrative that he is pushing is the one bin Laden wants out there.

Tags: Media (all tags)

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Your analysis (none / 0)

requires thinking beyond the moment to the long term, and sadly, that means no one will get it.

by bruh21 on Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 04:26:14 PM EST

the world is a thousand Maple Streets. . . . (none / 0)

by drlimerick on Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 04:37:50 PM EST

what bin laden really wants (none / 0)

Suppose Bin Laden is even more diabolical than we think. Suppose he mentioned Blum's book, "Rogue State," to get Amazon deluged with orders -- and (the beauty part) now the FBI has to track down those 200,000 people.
Oh, and when they're finished with that, how about the 20000-odd messages Chris Matthews' station received. Maybe those folks should be cross-checked for duplicates among the Amazon customers.
It's a big job -- but I feel sure they're up for it. And it'll keep them out of trouble whilst busy. (The devil makes work for idle FBI(NSA, CIA, and God know who else) hands.

by napa on Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 05:04:15 PM EST

I agree completely with Shields (none / 0)

This is an absolutely correct estimation.

First, Bin Laden knew alot about George W. Bush - one of Bush's closest family friends and investors, a person by the name of James Bath.

Jim Bath managed the Bin Laden fortune in America, and invested in Bush's arbusto corporation. And large, too. Almost 50,000.00 , which is a good chunk
of change.

Stakeholders are held close in a small company - Bush kept the Bin Laden family informed. And Of course, Osama, being at the time, a freedom fighter and Mujahadeen, fighting the communists with CIA weapons in Afghanistan - had all the access he needed to anything about Bush, and kin. So Osama knew what he was doing.

Shields has unravelled at last, the mystery of Otis and Ephialtes. Matthews is a nobody, he's not important - but Bin Laden needs to be caught.

When Bin Laden escaped the worlds largest and best equipped free standing Army at Tora Bora, riding by on a donkey in the middle of the night - Bush claimed that no mistake was made.

And Matthews standing there saying you've misunderstood him - thats no apology either. Matthews is not worth the time of day, but Bin Laden deserves to be hefted up on a stake and left for the vultures. Then buried with a pig.

by turnerbroadcasting on Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 05:04:43 PM EST

Well, Duh! (none / 0)

The reason bin Laden says these things is to create tension among the American electorate. It's a standard tactic of war and it's frustrating to see the media take the bait without question.

Bin Laden's been playing these guys like a violin since Day One. 9/11 horrified the world. But he knew that (1) American elites (media pundits, etc.) were narcissistic idiots and (2) AWOL was guaranteed to over-react, and validate his claims about America's evil intentions. By getting rid of Saddam, we've done what niether bin Laden nor the Iranian Ayatollah's could. And this latest, well, it's a just a little tiny bit of icing--not even on the cake. Call it icing on the cupcake.

Honestly, not a single one of them even heard of Sun Tzu for Dummies. They still haven't finished My Pet Goat.

by Paul Rosenberg on Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 06:33:15 PM EST

Hmmmm. (none / 0)

Seems that someone was making that comment Friday.

by greyhair on Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 07:01:33 PM EST

Family (none / 0)

Without donning a tinfoil hat, I think it's important to point out that the bin Laden family -- of which Osama is an interesting black sheep not wholly cut off -- is travelled, sophisticated, very familiar with US business dealings and with the senior Bushes.

It's not too much to say that bin Laden of the taped messages is a lot more clued in about the Bush administration's psychology than most Americans are. If one listens attentively to the tape, it shows a man -- whether in a cave in the border mountains or in relative comfort in town -- who's way ahead of Bush in the game and well aware of which buttons to push and when.

Worst of all, it's not just the Administration which is being manipulated, but millions of willing Americans. Geese. Cooked.

by Bean on Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 07:22:56 PM EST

A Deep-Fried Turnip Is A Lot More Clued In About (none / 0)

the Bush Administration's psychology than most Americans are.

It's not too much to say that bin Laden of the taped messages is a lot more clued in about the Bush administration's psychology than most Americans are.

Just to make it perfectly clear that bin Laden isn't channeling Bush on the Couch.

by Paul Rosenberg on Sat Jan 21, 2006 at 07:42:22 PM EST

Or, (none / 0)

1. Osama is on Bush's payroll. When the poll numbers dive, Rove calls up O (they all have nick names you know) and says, Hey O, we need another tape or another bombing. And tell al to send one in, too.

2. Osama likes Bush in power because it recruits terrorists for him and keeps America divided from the rest of the world.

Why is it that everytime Bush is in trouble and his numbers are tanking, Osama pops up?

by oakland on Sun Jan 22, 2006 at 08:30:30 AM EST

This perspective needs more play (none / 0)

To add my voice to the chorus, I fully agree. OBL's choice of words and his timing are not accidental. Also, I suspect his intentions are directly obvious--no one discredits his ability to be an effective leader which requires artful communication strategies.

It would be a glorious day when pundits, etc., publicly start asking the question, "WHY is OBL making these statements?" In prior wars, what was our domestic reaction to the propaganda spiel created by our antagonists? Wasn't it largely ignored and dismissed for what it was? Propaganda created to disrupt us?

I propose that the effective way to counter Matthews, et al, is to displace their shrill reactions with serious discussion about the "Why?" factor. I did a cursory review what might exist. As expected, I was overwhelmed by the extent of knee-jerk reactions to OBL but found some useful gems.

Jason Burkes provides a thoughtful perspective on OBL's tape released just before 2004 elections.

Osama bin Laden is very good at what he does. He is one of the great propagandists - up there with Himmler, Lenin, Napoleon and Louis XIV. He has an awesome understanding of the holy triumvirate of political communication: the power of the image, the message and the deed. And he understands how they work together.
...
bin Laden's primary aim...is to get as many people as possible to listen to him. He and his aides have always recognised that few share their views,... Bin Laden's timing is meticulous. He knows that breaking his silence now...will receive massive attention.

I recommend reading the rest of his post for the quality and quantity of his analysis.

This commentary by Joe Gandelman (which links back to Scott's diary here!) compares OBL's strategies with ETA, the Basque separatist group during the Franco regime.

[M]any analysts inside and outside the Spanish government contended part of ETA's strategy -- particularly under the Franco regime -- was to cause its statements and acts to get the government to clamp down which would serve several purposes: (1) It would divide the country even more, (2) It would cause the government to perhaps overreact and be branded as represssive, and make new enemies (3) It would accentuate existing political divisions and heighten polarization -- thus weakening the central government.

If the WH could demonstrate true leadership on this matter, I would expect them to adopt a serious tone of discussion about OBL's propaganda and urge the rightwing pundits to suppress their Pavlovian instincts to align liberals and OBL.

by sawgrass727 on Sun Jan 22, 2006 at 01:28:21 PM EST

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