Not surprisingly, a lot of rightist blogs pounced on not only al-Qaeda, but also Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei celebrating the Democratic victory. Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq argued the democrats were "reasonable" and Khamenei said Bush's defeat was a victory for Iran. Captain Ed wisely takes the high ground.
Radical Islamists want to divide Americans in order to defeat us. They will play on our differences, stoking the fires of resentment and generating more hatred between us than we have against our enemies. AQ understands that the only way they can possibly beat the US is to get us to grind to a halt with partisan warfare at home, paralyzing our ability to fight them on the battlefield and sapping our will to put them out of business. This video is transparently calculated to give enough ammunition to both sides of the political divide to do that job. Besides, if we take Abu Hamza at his word about the Democrats, then we have to take him at his word about Bush as well, and about our troops.
The partisan sniping has ceased to be germane. We've already had the election, and the Democrats are in charge -- and they will be for two years no matter what.
Republicans have taken a lot of shots at their opponents for being weak on terror and undermining the commander in chief in a time of war. However, a time of war is still a time for democracy, and nobody should deny the opposition the right to fight for power. The GOP loss was clearly one of their own making.
America's enemies don't understand democracy. A change in leadership, be it legislative or executive, is a confirmation of democracy, not a defeat for it. You could ask Milosevic, were he alive, about whether a left-leaning Bill Clinton can be a war leader, or for that matter the terrorists who have been decimated by British forces sent by Tony Blair to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new leadership in Congress will have one advantage, namely the fact that America's allies are already more positive towards them. This may make it easier for the US to rally support for a tough stance against Iran's nuclear project. Whether it can be translated into increasing support for the fighting war remains to be seen. Like a hawk is often the best peacemaker, perceived doves should not be underestimated should they choose to execute this war towards a conclusion. Whether they will do so, we have to wait and see.
2:21:57 PM 
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