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Propaganda: An Analysis
Over at ABC News, you can find a partial transcript of the tape purported to be by bin Laden. It is very interesting in its effective use of propaganda. Take a quick read and you will find
Bin Laden also spoke to the ongoing situation in Iraq throughout the tape, heavily criticizing the Bush administration.
He says to the American people, "you made one of your greatest mistakes, in that you neither brought to account nor punished those who waged this war, not even the most violent of its murderers, [former Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld…"
"You permitted Bush to complete his first term, and stranger still, chose him for a second term, which gave him a clear mandate from you -- with your full knowledge and consent -- to continue to murder our people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then you claim to be innocent! The innocence of yours is like my innocence of the blood of your sons on the 11th -- were I to claim such a thing."
Bin Laden says President Bush's words echo "neoconservatives like Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Richard Perle."
"People of America: the world is following your news in regards to your invasion of Iraq, for people have recently come to know that, after several years of tragedies of this war, the vast majority of you want it stopped. Thus, you elected the Democratic Party for this purpose, but the Democrats haven't made a move worth mentioning. On the contrary, they continue to agree to the spending of tens of billions to continue the killing and war there."
You will also find the speaker on the tape referring to a statement by a US soldier against the Bush administration and this interesting tidbit:
He goes on to call Noam Chomsky "among one of the most capable of those from your own side," and mentions global warming and "the Kyoto accord."
He also speaks to recent issues grabbing headlines in the United States, referring to "the reeling of many of you under the burden of interest-related debts, insane taxes and real estate mortgages; global warming and its woes..."
"To conclude," bin Laden says, "I invite you to embrace Islam." He goes on to say: "There are no taxes in Islam, but rather there is a limited Zakaat [alms] totaling 2.5 percent.”
The thing to keep in mind is that regardless of who made the tape, it is propaganda.
I'll repeat that for emphasis: PROPAGANDA.
Propaganda always has a purpose and the purpose here is pretty well evident. While bloggers and others debate who made this tape--the CIA, bin Laden, some other entity--I don't know that it matters much for the purposes of (1) discerning the intended message and effect and (2) determining the maker's motivition. What is clear is that the maker of the tape has created propaganda and wants to achieve a specific purpose.
One of the objects of the maker is to provoke a strong reaction by conservatives, both against Al Qaeda and the Muslim world, but, significantly, against the Democrats. This is a pretty easy thing to do if you hit all their buttons--God, 'merikuh, soldiers, apple pie, etc.--and, in particular, if you strike out at conservatives' favorite target: the Democratic party. Overriding these issues, though, is that fact that it is bin Laden to whom the statements are attributable. This alone is enough to send blood rushing to the head of any conservative, triggering the "let's nuke the entire Middle East!!" reaction and destroy any credibility with respect to criticism of the Bush administration in the minds of conservatives.
However, it is important to remember that bin Laden is himself a conservative fundamentalist and thus, to some extent, is effectively "energizing the base" of conservatives. It certainly underlines the irony inherent in his attempt to convert listeners to Islam by striking that note about tax cuts, US conservatives' favorite one-trick pony. Of course, he really gets their blood running with his reference to Noam Chomsky.
The flip side to this "energize the base" purpose, is a purpose to undermine solidarity in the Democratic party and to disaffect liberals and independents on, respectively, the left and right of its traditional support. The maker accomplishes both purposes by having bin Laden mouth issues of more or less no concern to Al Qaeda (the Kyoto treaty?), but which are supported by the democratic candidates and the Democratic party in general. Such statements provoke conservative anger against the Democratic party by creating an opportunity to identify bin Laden with traditionally Democratic issues, while at the same time undermining Democratic unity by the same tactic. At the same time, the maker attempts to portry the Democratic party as weak and ineffective, after having won control of Congress in 2006. The maker's message here is mirrored for Americans in general, by reminding America of its inability to oust Bush in 04 (recall, of course, that shortly prior to the election, a similar tape was released by Al Qaeda).
For all intents and purposes, therefore, the effect of this rhetoric is to energize Republicans and weaken Democrats.
Why would the maker of the tape want to do so?
The answer seems all too clear: bin Laden wants a Republican in power in the White House and, preferably, wants Republicans to control the Congress as well. With Republicans in power, he can be assured that the US will continue to waste its assets with wars of choice in the Middle East, further weakening the US economy, which now seems on the verge of a recession. He can be assured that Republicans will continue with their barely disguised racist attitudes against the Muslim world and their ongoing efforts to restrict civil liberties and impose an authoritarian state, overtly concerned with public morality. By this measure, bin Laden hopes to ensure that the US will push itself closer and closer to the type of fundamentalist, authoritarian state that overtly enforces moral norms, imposes religious belief, institutionalizes intolerance and provides and convenient enemy to despise.
It's much easier for bin Laden and his ilk if we do his job for him: after all, both Christianity and Islam are "religions of the Book."
As I intimated above, how productive is it to wonder about who authored this tape?
Right on! I think your comment on abcnews.com was awesome as well.