Ian Welsh points out in this insightful, must-read post that Europe reacted just as Osama bin Laden knew they would to his peace offer. Welsh writes that OBL was speaking to the Muslim world, not Europe, when he made his offer:
As everyone has probably heard by now, last week a tape from bin Laden offered reconciliation with Europe. The condition was simple, any government that agrees to not attack Muslims and to not interfere in Muslim affairs will, in turn, not be attacked.
It was rejected out of hand…
… and bin Laden is smart enough to know that the offer would be rejected. Moreover it’s clear that this tape wasn’t directed primarily at Westerners. It is directed at Muslims and its’ effect, in the West, is probably to strengthen those who want to continue to keep boots on the ground in the Middle East – after all many will believe that if bin Laden suggests anything – we should do the opposite. It should be obvious, that if that is so, then he can make us do anything he wants just by suggesting the reverse.
Read the rest…
Thanks to MG at Norwegianity for calling attention to this post.