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These ing ragheads are going to change our history forever, by turning our once carefree lifestyle into a paranoid lot. The US is not unlike a besieged fortress with no end to the onslaught in sight.
Nov. 1, 2004, 10:43PM
Bin Laden vows to drain United States' economy
He says attacks by al-Qaida will drive the nation into bankruptcy
By DONNA BRYSON
Associated Press
AL-QAIDA
WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden vowed to bleed America to bankruptcy, according to a full transcript of unaired portions of a videotape released Monday by an Arab television station. The al-Qaida leader's remarks appeared targeted to the final days of the U.S. presidential campaign in which the struggling economy is a major issue.
Bin Laden boasted in his first appearance in more than a year that for every $1 al-Qaida has spent on terrorist strikes, it has cost the United States $1 million in economic fallout and military spending, including emergency funding for Iraq and Afghanistan.
"As for the size of the economic deficit, it has reached record astronomical numbers," bin Laden said, estimating the deficit at more than $1 trillion.
In reality, spending in the war against terror and other factors have resulted in an expected $377 billion shortfall for 2003 — the highest deficit since World War II, accounting for inflation. The total U.S. national debt is near the $7.4 trillion statutory limit.
Says plan worked in Russia
Bin Laden dwelled on al-Qaida's economic strategy against the United States, according to the complete transcript of the 18-minute video that aired on Al-Jazeera and was obtained by U.S. intelligence. Al-Jazeera broadcast about 14 minutes of the video Friday and put the full English-language transcript on its Web site on Monday.
The terror mastermind, whose al-Qaida network carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, credited the religiously inspired Arab volunteers that he fought with against the Soviets in Afghanistan with having "bled Russia for 10 years, until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat." He suggested the same strategy would work against the United States.
Bin Laden, in rhetoric that seemed to echo critical campaign headlines in the United States, accused President Bush of going to war in oil-rich Iraq simply to create business for military contractors linked to his administration.
Claiming victory
In his message aimed at American listeners, bin Laden claimed al-Qaida was winning its war with the United States, and that contractors "like Halliburton and its kind" were also benefiting, while the losers were "the American people and their economy."
Bin Laden noted reports that al-Qaida spent $500,000 "on the event" — referring to 9/11 — while the United States has lost more than $500 billion "in the incident and its aftermath," he added, citing an estimate by a British think tank.
Economic targets
Evan F. Kohlmann, a U.S.-based counterterrorism researcher, said it was as if bin Laden were following the news from the United States, perhaps on satellite TV, and drawing shrewd assumptions about what concerns Americans.
"He is trying to create doubts in America's mind that this war is worth the cost," Kohlmann said.
Al-Qaida has long made a point of hitting economic targets.
The World Trade Center was likely targeted in the Sept. 11 attacks both because attacking it would kill thousands and because the Twin Towers were symbols of America's economic power.
These ing ragheads are going to change our history forever, by turning our once carefree lifestyle into a paranoid lot. The US is not unlike a besieged fortress with no end to the onslaught in sight.
And Osama is right. We're going to spend ourselves into oblivion until our children are faced with a bill that they can't even possibly pay.
Nothing like making sure that your kids will have a crappy quality of life.
Osama's an idiot. He didn't bankrupt the Soviet Union, we did...Specifically Ronald Reagan did...and the fact that communism sucks did.
And yes he got this idea from what happened to the Soviet Union. He thinks his little jihad in Afghanistan destroyed the Soviets and he thinks he can do it again here...he's an idiot.
That's true. But that doesn't mean that the drain on our economy isn't going to do us in eventually.
Well I don't think most of the world wants to see us go bankrupt seeing as how we support most of it. He's not going to win many friends with that philosophy.
I mean just who will the mid-east sell oil too if not us? Sri Lanka?
I don't think he wants to force us into using cheaper methods to win this war. He won't like the cheaper methods. No one will.
We need to kill the SOB, nuff said.
exactly... we backed the afghanis against the russians...gave them tons of weapons, then osama thinks he's a bad and wants to take us on..
Well...first Osama said he wanted to kill all Americans... Then he said he just wants to talk to us....Now he says he wants to destroy our economy....
Come on Dr. Jim...This guy is such a flip flopper...
I saw on CNN that after the bin laden video played Kerry got a boost in the polls. Wouldn't it be nice for the terrorists if Kerry got elected. Kerry would run from terrorists like Clinton did in Somalia.
Osama's plan is to attack the core of America, which is our economy. This ain't rocket science, you saw the opening salvo 9/11. It's the only way he feels he can win.
Pretty cut and dry, too bad too many folks *ccough Kerry cough* feel like appeasing the er is the way to go.
Osama can drain my main vein.
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