We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto

Since the collapse of the twin towers in 2001, I have often speculated as to the form and the location of the next terrorist attack. This debate also has usually included a discussion of the potential effectiveness (or lack thereof) of our Homeland Security measures.

My point has been that while the attack on the World Trade Center brought a startling reality to the entire spectrum of American society, in practice, for most Americans, it still happened “up there” in New York City, not “out here” in Topeka, Kansas or even on St. Simons Island, Georgia.

We have implemented many well conceived, effective measures to combat potential terrorism and the citizens of the US have done a good job of adapting to the post 9/11 security realities. We have also conceived of some strangely convoluted security measures like screening the walkers and orthopedic shoes of 90 year old Kansas City grandmothers in airports while at the same time allowing young, turban clad men of obvious middle-eastern descent to stroll unfettered through the screening area—fearful of being guilty of politically incorrect “profiling.”

My contention has been that the next terrorist attack does not in fact have to occur on a high profile target in a major city like New York, Washington DC, or Chicago. It could happen anywhere and it wouldn’t have to kill thousands to be effective. Imagine the psychological impact of the detonation of a series of five 2000 pound car bombs, each placed in a different US city adjacent to a movie theater or suburban football stadium packed with people on a Friday night.

Maybe only a few hundred people would be killed in each incident, but an attack like this would shut this country down. Everyone would run to the bank and the grocery store and go home to batten down the hatches for weeks if not months. The aftermath would include no parking zones, reminiscent of the setbacks at airports, for tens of dozens of yards adjacent to all public places of assembly like theaters, malls, stadiums, etc. Forget parking the old Suburban on the curb to wait while the old lady runs into the local “Stash & Cash” to pick up a gallon of milk--unless you want to risk being ripped from your vehicle and strip searched as a result.

Having said this, I wish to point out a major error in the transcript of last Friday’s Osama bin Laden video message to the American people. The Middle East Media Research Institute points out an error in the translation of what Osama “Weird Beard” bin Laden had to say, and it is substantial:

The tape of Osama bin Laden that was aired on Al-Jazeera(1) on Friday, October 29th included a specific threat to "each U.S. state," designed to influence the outcome of the upcoming election against George W. Bush. The U.S. media in general mistranslated the words "ay wilaya" (which means "each U.S. state")(2) to mean a "country" or "nation" other than the U.S., while in fact the threat was directed specifically at each individual U.S. state. This suggests some knowledge by bin Laden of the U.S. electoral college system. In a section of his speech in which he harshly criticized George W. Bush, bin Laden stated: "Any U.S. state that does not toy with our security automatically guarantees its own security."

The Islamist website Al-Qal'a explained what this sentence meant: "This message was a warning to every U.S. state separately. When he [Osama Bin Laden] said, 'Every state will be determining its own security, and will be responsible for its choice,' it means that any U.S. state that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as president has chosen to fight us, and we will consider it our enemy, and any state that will vote against Bush has chosen to make peace with us, and we will not characterize it as an enemy. By this characterization, Sheikh Osama wants to drive a wedge in the American body, to weaken it, and he wants to divide the American people itself between enemies of Islam and the Muslims, and those who fight for us, so that he doesn't treat all American people as if they're the same. This letter will have great implications inside the American society, part of which are connected to the American elections, and part of which are connected to what will come after the elections."(3)

So there it is folks, a direct threat to the security of each and every state--INDIVIDUALLY-- based on the outcome of the Electoral College vote. The inference is that if we re-elect “the white thug Bush,” then the states that didn’t vote Bush are safe and those that did vote Bush are at risk of further attacks. So we are really supposed to believe this crappolla?

As I stated in my previous post, Weird Beard Calls Time Out, what ever happened to Osama’s call for the restoration of Islam to the historical Eastern regions and converting the infidel countries of the West? What happened to world-wide Jihad? Did he change his mind after nearly having his ass shot off in Tora Bora?

What bin Laden apparently doesn’t understand is that we are the United States of America, not simply 50 independent states, one district, and some international possessions operating under a fancy flag/corporate logo in order to get retirement benefits and cheep group insurance rates. If you attack one state, you attack all Americans, and because we are a mobile society--even if I don’t live in a given city, chances are that I have a friend, relative, or business associate that does. You hit Kansas, you piss Alabama and Georgia off—real bad (and we have more guns per capita than practically any other part of the country.)

The new video tape can be translated, diallated, mastigated, and debated until we are all blue in the face, but it should be allowed to serve only two distinct purposes.

The first is to prove that Osama bin laden is still out there leading the Islamic war against
the free world.

The second, and most important, is to affirm the need to reelect president George Bush so
that he can finish his competent prosecution of the war on terror.

We, as a nation, cannot, like the Spanish, allow ourselves to cave in to overt threats from outside movements designed to influence OUR national elections.

As my title says, “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.”

GET OUT AND VOTE FOR GEORGE W BUSH.