HOW BUSH AND BLAIR MAKE BIN LADEN HAPPPY

SIMON JENKINS, TIMES, UK - Is Osama Bin Laden winning after all? Until
recently I would have derided such a thought. How could a tin pot
fanatic who is either dead or shut in some mountain hideout hold the
world to ransom for five years? It would stretch the imagination of an
Ian Fleming. Now I am beginning to wonder. Not a day passes without some
new sign of Bin Laden’s mesmeric grip on the governments of Britain and
America. His deeds lie behind half the world’s headlines. British policy
seems obsessed with one word: terrorism. The West is equivocating,
writhing, slithering in precisely the direction most desired by its
enemy. He must be roaring with delight.

On any objective measure, terrorism in the West is a trivial crime.
True, New York and London saw outrages in 2001 and 2005 respectively.
Both were the outcome of sloppy intelligence. Neither has been repeated,
though of course they may be. Policing has improved and probably averted
other attacks. But incidents genuinely attributable to Al-Qaeda rather
than domestic grievances are comparable to the IRA and pro-Palestinian
campaigns. Vigilance is important but only those with money in security
have an interest in presenting Bin Laden as a cosmic threat.

Indeed if ever there were a case for collective restraint it is in
response to terrorism. The word refers to a technique, usually a bomb,
not an ideology. A bombing is an anarchic gesture calling for police and
medical services. It becomes a political weapon only if publicized and
answered with hysteria. . . Bin Laden’s intention in 2001 was to portray
the West as scared, emotionally vulnerable, over-reactive, decadent and
careless of liberal values. The West has done its damnedest to prove him
right.

Were I Bin Laden I could not have dreamt that the spirit of 9/11 would
be so vigorous five years on. I have western leaders still parroting my
motto that “9/11 alters everything” and “the rules of the game are
changed”. I have the Taliban resurgent, financed by Europe’s voracious
demand for oil and opium. I have the Pentagon and Scotland Yard paying
me the compliment of a “long war” of indefinite duration. My potency is
said to require more defense spending than was needed to contain the
might of the Soviet Union. . .

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-2047134,00.html