McCants on Obama
8 November 2008
I’m plundering Will’s post on jihadi forum reactions to Obama’s win because I’m very, very tired. More to the point, it flags up what we have to contend with:
“Reaction from the members of Hesbah, the last of the top-tier Jihadi sites to remain open:
- Abu Ahmad al-Salafi: “The election of this black man to the Black House will improve the image of the New Rome in the eyes of the world. Al-Faruq `Umar [the second caliph] was right when he said that Rome is the fastest to recover after a catastrophe. That’s what has happened with the election of this black man.”
- Al Hakim: “Today America elected Obama because al-Qaeda wanted it, after God desired it! In 2004 America elected Bush because al-Qaeda had wanted it, after God desired it!”
- Abu Ahmad al-Salafi: “I think the election of McCain would have been more beneficial and useful to the Muslims than this black slave. This Christian is a fanatical supporter of the Jews and (his election) will raise the market shares of Western democratic capitalism (even though it is) in the final throes of death.”
- Al Hakim: “Brother Abu Ahmad al-Salafi, like you I believe that al-Qaeda wants the election of the Republican candidate McCain. But the organization has been quiet until now, when Obama has been elected. There can be only one reason for this: the organization is taking the next step after the success of its previous plan against the wildly stupid Republican Party. The new plan requires a massive effort from al-Qaeda and we are behind it. The Democratic Party is diplomatic and smart.”
- Abu Mus`ab al-Mujahid: “We will not stop from seeking (America’s) destruction…”
- `Abd Allah al-Harbi: “The victory of Obama means the departure of the occupier from Iraq, humiliated, exhausted, defeated, and broken.”
- Umuruzi al-Misri: “Unbelief is one community, meaning Bush, Obama, and McCain are the same.”
- Al-Nasr lil-Islam: “Obama is the black gloves that the American cowboy will wear to strike Muslims, so don’t rejoice too much.”
- elhajgamal: “Greetings noble brothers. Is it permissible for us to address him by the color of his skin just because he is an enemy infidel whom we hate on behalf of God?”
- Al-Nasr lil-Islam: “We say ‘black’ because he is not white. There is not place for racism among Muslims.”
Thank fuck I call myself a scientist.
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thank fuck indeed. thank fuck, without which none of us would be here.
amen.
:-)
Sad thing is, we’ve had a hard time drawing even with exactly these kinds of imbeciles in terms of strategic communication.
As is so often the case with getting a peek behind the curtain at our dreaded “Enemies,” I find myself amazed that anyone takes these people seriously as a threat. We just have a very poorly designed cultural infrastructure here in the West that leaves us vulnerable to any idiot…and these men are surely idiots.
A great post, though! Definitely not a post-election conversation I’d be overhearing any other way, so thank you.
Good points, all. If I was a policymaker, and thank heaven I’m not, and I had some balls, I would be attempting to remedy what Justin says about our “cultural infrastructure”. It says a lot about how politicians view democracy that it is not apparently strong enough to resist a bit of mild dissent. This, of course, is where strategic communication comes in – stop giving these people the column inches and the broadcast space, let intelligence do their job, and, above all, stop legitimating their right to express violence and anti-social discourse. They’ll soon fade away once they realise their every fart and whistle doesn’t make it to the front page.
I wonder – does Al Q present themselves to the Arabic world as if they’re still the Feared Scourge of the Western World, moreso than they actually are these days? It seems like the Al Q meme has been innoculated here in the US…less potent, less effective at triggering emotional changes in people. Even anchors on mainstream cable (not Comedy Central) are openly joking about and mocking changes in the “Threat Level” here — the GWOT is fading into background noise in the USA, but I’m not saying the real thing isn’t still raging.