Two More Views on Bush's Wrong Approach to Terrorism

Al Jazeera expresses views similar to those quoted from James Zogby on Friday regarding how George Bush has played into al Qaeda's hands. They report the following from the al Qaeda declaration on March 7 after the Spanish bombing:

"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.

"We cannot get anyone who is more foolish than you, who deals with matters with force instead of wisdom and diplomacy.

"Your stupidity and religious extremism is what we want as our people will not awaken from their deep sleep except when there is an enemy.

"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 civilization.

"Because of this we desire you [Bush] to be elected."

This statement may explain why bin Laden chose to release a statement rather than an attack prior to the election. While al Qaeda may be misjudging the effects on voters of an attack, they do understand how Kerry's approach to foreign policy and terrorism would be much more dangerous to them than George Bush.

Of course we are not going to take the judgement of al Qaeda and Al Jazeera alone on this. A similar view of the differences between George Bush and John Kerry is seen in today's endorsement of John Kerry by conservative columnist Thomas Friedman:

Vote for the man who you think would have the same gut feel for nurturing allies and restoring bipartisanship to foreign policy as him. Vote for the man you think understands the importance of facing up to our fiscal responsibilities for the sake of our children. And vote for the man who has the best instincts for balancing realism and idealism and the man who understands the necessity of using energetic U.S. diplomacy to make Israel more secure - by helping to bring it peace with its Arab neighbors, not just more tours from American Christian fundamentalists.