By Ryan Yeomans Conneticut, Central State University Recorder Online

It is the time of the year once again for Americans to mourn the loss of friends, family members and co-workers and to remember all who died on September 11, 2007. But while most of us hold the anniversary as a reminder of those who have passed and of the dangers that still exist everyday, Osama bin Laden has been spending his time grooming his beard and reading up on current events so that he can release a new video to the public. This year, bin Laden was nice enough to distribute two videos within a week, which together contain over an hour of new material.

The first video, which was released on the Thursday before September 11, contains 47 minutes of Osama speaking about everything from the holocaust to global warming. He praises the 9/11 hijackers and, as usual, suggests that Islam is the only option for savior. He continues by bashing George Bush and lists many interesting statements regarding the world’s current situation.

While I cannot support bin Laden’s opinion that all Americans should be killed and that Islam is the only way to be saved, it is hard to overlook the statements that he makes about the Bush administration.

Bin Laden states, ‘This war was entirely unnecessary, as testified to by your own reports,’ and goes on to say that despite the Democrats attempts to end the war, nothing can be done because ‘those with real power and influence are those with the most capital.’ I urge you to read the transcript of the video for yourself, as there are countless arguments made against Bush and his supporting Americans.

The Bush administration was quick to respond to bin Laden’s first video appearance in three years by stating that he is useless, ‘aside from his ability to hide in caves and spread anti-American propaganda.’ White House aide Frances Fragos Townsend went on to say that ‘This is a man on the run, from a cave, who’s virtually impotent other than these tapes.’

This statement causes me to seriously question the integrity of the White House’s reports. How can it be that a man with more wealth and power than most Americans and the ability to evade our searches for six years is really just hanging out in a cave all day’ It seems to me that what bin Laden wants us to believe is exactly what the Bush administration thinks to be true.

Although it is obvious to me that Osama bin Laden released these tapes as propaganda to remind Americans of his presence, it is also clear to me that the Bush Administration is trying to push their own agenda in response to the videos. By claiming bin Laden to be ‘impotent,’ they are using this video to mislead Americans into a false sense of security, even though the imminent danger of terrorism exists now more than ever because of Bush’s actions.

As of late, if you were to bring up the president in a discussion you would find that many Americans disapprove of the decisions he has made. At the same time, Osama bin Laden presents many good arguments against the president and many of his reasons for disapproving of Bush are similar to those of anti-Bush Americans. Would it be wrong to assume that there is some kind of connection between feelings of the American people and those of Osama bin Laden’ As I would love to make this connection, I ultimately cannot because of the actions of our president. If I were to say I agree with bin Laden, that would mean that I agree with a terrorist; under the Patriot Act, I could be labeled a potential terrorist and my phone could be tapped, and every move I make could be watched and analyzed.

In finding myself in this predicament, I questioned myself as to who the lesser evil actually is. I ask, ‘Who has done more damage to the lives of the American people’? Personally, I worry more about the next bad decision Bush is going to make than I worry about a potential Osama bin Laden organized terrorist attack.

One thing I have realized from these videos is that while Osama bin Laden remains free, Americans are slowly becoming bound by the decisions of the president to remove and restrict the rights given to us by our knowledgeable forefathers, without whom we would not be here. I can only hope that Americans will open their eyes and see what is in front of them, in order to prevent things from getting out of hand any further.

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