Osama says he's holding back till after US election, hoping Bush wins

On Tuesday October 19 2004, in Carroll Ohio, Dick Cheney repeated his stock speech warning of “the possibility of terrorists ending up in the middle of one of our cities with deadlier weapons than have ever been used against us – biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind … “ He’s right, except for his inference that this will be more likely if Kerry is elected. (And  the GOP  is claiming success in  the "war on terror" as evidenced by a lack of attack since 911, as reported by Brit Hume on Fox News Sunday October 24.)

Actually, Americans should be particularly worried about this threat if Cheney, Bush and their junior partner rubberstamps like Pete Hoekstra are elected, and Cheney knows this -- because Bin Laden has all but said so.  Following are independent reports of statements made by Al Qaeda, clearly indicating purposeful (in)action being taken to influence the upcoming election.

1. Democracy Now, Oct. 7, 2004 (radio): In an interview with Amy Goodman, Imad Khadduri, a former Iraqi nuclear scientist with the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission from 1968-1998, and author of the book Iraq's Nuclear Mirage, said:

"Six months ago, when there was the Spain Madrid train bombing and ten days later the Al Qaeda issued a statement on that, that was six months ago. They said, we will ask all operations to be halted in Spain, giving the Spanish people the chance to vote and perhaps withdraw, and they did. Now, the second part of that statement, declaration, was not published, was not widespread in the west. I did translate it and send it to the Toronto Star. It wasn't published there. What did it say?

"In it Osama Bin Laden was hoping, was saying to Bush: 'I really wish that you would win next November election, because you are the only one who can convince the Muslims of the -- of the -- with your -- with your intransigence and violent approach, it will convince the Muslims that American military postures and foreign policy is against their interests. Therefore I have asked all operations to be suspended from the United States until the election. And after that, every event will have its own discourse'

"Now, he said -- this is Osama Bin Laden saying -- that if Kerry comes into -- into power, he will again ameliorate the whole situation. He will sugar-coat it to the Muslims, thinking that he's giving them democracy, or whatever. So that's why he was wishing -- Osama was wishing -- Bush, that he should be winning; and that's why he asked all of his operations to stop in the United States until the November elections."

2.  On the  Aljazeera website on Oct 24 2004, Khadduri provides the direct translation.  According to this Aljazeera report:

A week after the Madrid attack, the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which claims to act on behalf of al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the bombing and declared a truce in Spain to see if the new government would withdraw its troops from Iraq, but warned that it was gearing up for new attacks.

This part of the declaration was widely reported. However, very few mentioned the more ominous part of that declaration, short of excerpts which were reported by the BBC and Reuters.

The declaration turned its attention to President Bush, saying: "A word for the foolish Bush. We are very keen that you do not lose in the forthcoming elections as we know very well that any big attack can bring down your government and this is what we do not want.

3.  As noted by Aljazerra (above), confirmation of Imad Khadduri’s account of the Al Qaeda statement was reported by Reuters and others.  Reuters on March 17 and by Australian Broadcasting Corp, on March 18 reported:

"The [Al Qaeda] statement said it supported U.S. President George W. Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader "more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."  

"In comments addressed to Bush, the group said: 'Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as civilisation. Because of this we desire you (Bush) to be elected.'  The group said its cells were ready for another attack and time was running out for allies of the United States."

The story was also carried by AP as posted on  F0X News, CBS News and  International Herald Tribune  on March 18:

 "The statement tells American voters that Abu Hafs al-Masri supports the re-election campaign of President Bush: 'We are very keen that Bush does not lose the upcoming elections.'  The statement said Abu Hafs al-Masri needs what it called Bush's "idiocy and religious fanaticism" because they would "wake up" the Islamic world. The group is named after Muhammed Atef, also known as Abu Hafs, a close bin Laden aide killed in the US-led war in Afghanistan."

MSNBC likewise acknowledged the group was "keen that Bush does not lose" and, addressing Bush, said "We know that a heavyweight operation would destroy your government, and this is what we don't want. We are not going to find a bigger idiot than you." [The italicized portion, properly translated, confirms Imad Khaddur's assertion that Al Qaeda is purposefully holding back till the November election.]