Introduction
Page 2
United States government
Page 4
European Union
Page 5
Islamic states
Page 6
Terrorist statements
Page 7
State terrorism
Page 8
Aerial bombardment
Page 9
Commercial mass media
Page 10
The contradictions
Page 11
Culture of war
Page 12
The most prominent terrorist statements in recent years have been released in the name of Al Qaida. Here are excerpts from the statement of Osama Ben Laden issued after the destruction of the World Trade Center:
"God Almighty hit the United States at its most vulnerable spot. He destroyed its greatest buildings. Praise be to God. Here is the United States. It was filled with terror from its north to its south and from its east to its west. Praise be to God. What the United States tastes today is a very small thing compared to what we have tasted for tens of years. Our nation has been tasting this humiliation and contempt for more than 80 years .... "One million Iraqi children have thus far died in Iraq although they did not do anything wrong. Despite this, we heard no denunciation by anyone in the world or a fatwa by the rulers' ulema [body of Muslim scholars]. Israeli tanks and tracked vehicles also enter to wreak havoc in Palestine, in Jenin, Ramallah, Rafah, Beit Jala, and other Islamic areas and we hear no voices raised or moves made ... "In the aftermath of this event and now that senior US officials have spoken, beginning with Bush, the head of the world's infidels, and whoever supports him, every Muslim should rush to defend his religion ... "They came out to fight Islam in the name of terrorism. Hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, were killed in the farthest point on earth in Japan. [For them] this is not a crime, but rather a debatable issue. They bombed Iraq and considered that a debatable issue. "As for the United States, I tell it and its people these few words: I swear by Almighty God who raised the heavens without pillars that neither the United States nor he who lives in the United States will enjoy security before we can see it as a reality in Palestine and before all the infidel armies leave the land of Mohammed, may God's peace and blessing be upon him. "God is great and glory to Islam. May God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you."But the terrorist threat of Osama Ben Laden has not been directly only against the United States and other Western powers. It has also been directed against the governments in states with predominantly Muslim populations. In a tape sent to Al Jazeera on February 11, 2003, he said:
"We also stress to honest Muslims that they should move, incite, and mobilize the [Islamic] nation, amid such grave events and hot atmosphere so as to liberate themselves from those unjust and renegade ruling regimes, which are enslaved by the United States. They should also do so to establish the rule of God on earth. The most qualified regions for liberation are Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, the land of the two holy mosques [Saudi Arabia], and Yemen."
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