Elonka wrote:
] ] 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."
]
] Okay. I'm going to ramble here a moment...
]
] Speaking as a game designer, and an avid gamer, there's a
] philosophy I often keep in mind when faced with a difficult
] decision during a game. If I have different choices of how to
] play my hand, and I can't decide which action to take, I ask
] myself, "Which play will annoy my opponent more?" That way,
] even if the play doesn't give *me* a specific gaming
] advantage, the fact that I've done something that messes up my
] opponent's hand in some way can't hurt.
]
] So, this helps. The head of Al Qaeda would clearly rather
] have Kerry in office than Bush? Osama would be annoyed, or
] even afraid, if Bush won?
]
] I had already decided that I was voting for Bush. But now, I
] get frosting on the cake. By my vote, I can clearly do
] something that gives the finger to Osama? Well cool, that
] makes my decision even easier. :)
]
] Elonka

This is a line of reasoning that I would agree with, except for one niggling problem. It is based on the premise that I'm not going to win. Pissing off the other guy works just fine if you're doing to set them up for something later. Pissing off the other guy AND losing to him at the same time is really not the way to go.

You got played by one of the better geopolitical strategists of our time. George W. Bush is the best recruiting tool that terrorists have ever had. He offends the national pride of most other countries, offends the religious sensability of most everyone who is not a fundamentalist Christian, and offends intelectual sensabilities worldwide with his poor decisionmaking and dishonest presentation.

I guess if we don't demand better than this, we don't deserve better.

Did nobody not notice and go HMMMM how Bin Ladin managed to pop up precisely before the election, as predicted?

The US will lose its status just like Russia did fighting Afganistan if we aren't careful.

Bin Ladin - give him the finger if you want, but jeez don't let your fear of him bankrupt us.

Elonka wrote:
] ] 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."
]
] Okay. I'm going to ramble here a moment...
]
] Speaking as a game designer, and an avid gamer, there's a
] philosophy I often keep in mind when faced with a difficult
] decision during a game. If I have different choices of how to
] play my hand, and I can't decide which action to take, I ask
] myself, "Which play will annoy my opponent more?" That way,
] even if the play doesn't give *me* a specific gaming
] advantage, the fact that I've done something that messes up my
] opponent's hand in some way can't hurt.
]
] So, this helps. The head of Al Qaeda would clearly rather
] have Kerry in office than Bush? Osama would be annoyed, or
] even afraid, if Bush won?
]
] I had already decided that I was voting for Bush. But now, I
] get frosting on the cake. By my vote, I can clearly do
] something that gives the finger to Osama? Well cool, that
] makes my decision even easier. :)
]
] Elonka

This is a line of reasoning that I would agree with, except for one niggling problem. It is based on the premise that I'm not going to win. Pissing off the other guy works just fine if you're doing to set them up for something later. Pissing off the other guy AND losing to him at the same time is really not the way to go.

You got played by one of the better geopolitical strategists of our time. George W. Bush is the best recruiting tool that terrorists have ever had. He offends the national pride of most other countries, offends the religious sensability of most everyone who is not a fundamentalist Christian, and offends intelectual sensabilities worldwide with his poor decisionmaking and dishonest presentation.

I guess if we don't demand better than this, we don't deserve better.

skullaria wrote:
] Did nobody not notice and go HMMMM how Bin Ladin managed to
] pop up precisely before the election, as predicted?

Actually, I found it interesting that he chose to pop up with only a message, instead of an attack. I believe that he was smart enough to know that if Al Qaeda would have attacked the U.S. on the eve of the election, it would have *guaranteed* Bush's re-election. We weren't going to react in fear like Spain did. We would have gone into ass-kicking mode.

Elonka wrote:
] Actually, I found it interesting that he chose to pop up with
] only a message, instead of an attack. I believe that he was
] smart enough to know that if Al Qaeda would have attacked the
] U.S. on the eve of the election, it would have *guaranteed*
] Bush's re-election. We weren't going to react in fear like
] Spain did. We would have gone into ass-kicking mode.

I agree. I think the fact that a message is all he has got to offer is a sign of weakness. I think he would have struck in the past few months if he could have. There will be no better time for several years.

] I had already decided that I was voting for Bush. But now, I
] get frosting on the cake. By my vote, I can clearly do
] something that gives the finger to Osama? Well cool, that
] makes my decision even easier. :)
]
] [ Call me crazy, but I'd rather that motherfucker was dead
] than to have the oportunitity to "give him the finger" now.

Agreed. :)

Could you please get your facts straight, you Rove of the Dems! Bin Ladin said that it doesn't matter who you vote for. He says that only we can make the change as citizens in order to appease him. It might be easier to wipe his ass out. All the more reason to vote for the President. Your argument here is tasteless and without basis, and factually incorrect. Game over, K. You and your guy lost! Bye Bye, loser! Go back to posting shit about soundblasters and IP crap.

k wrote:
] ] 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."
]
] I had already decided that I was voting for Bush. But now, I
] get frosting on the cake. By my vote, I can clearly do
] something that gives the finger to Osama? Well cool, that
] makes my decision even easier. :)
]
] [ Call me crazy, but I'd rather that motherfucker was dead
] than to have the oportunitity to "give him the finger" now.
]
] Not to mention, i completely disagree with this analysis. My
] reading of the transcript was, yes, that Osama dosen't like
] Bush, but then, a large portion of the world community doesn't
] like Bush either, and they're not terrorists (or are they!).
] However, I saw nothing that seemed to indicate specifically
] that Osama has a predilection for one candidate or the other.
] MEMRI's own translation says "Your security is not in the
] hands of Kerry or Bush or Al-Qa'ida. Your security is in your
] own hands, and any U.S. state that does not toy with our
] security automatically guarantees its own security." In other
] words, if you leave us alone, we'll leave you alone. Now, I
] don't buy that shit for a second, of course, and I certainly
] don't think either Bush or Kerry will take an official
] position of ignoring Osama, but nonetheless, i think it's a
] pretty clear statement that the likelihood of future attacks
] is based primarily on our foreign policy, not on whi... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]