Osama Wants A GOP Majority to Stay The Course

Robert Parry, whose Consortium News is invaluable, (via Truthout.org),

George W. Bush's blunt assertion that a Democratic victory in the November 7 elections means 'the terrorists win and America loses' misses the point that Osama bin Laden stands to advance his strategic goals much faster with a Republican victory.

Indeed, as U.S. intelligence analysts have come to understand, there is a symbiotic relationship between Bush's blunderbuss "war on terror" and bin Laden's ruthless strategy of terrorist violence - one helping the other.

Last April, a National Intelligence Estimate, representing the consensus view of the U.S. intelligence community, concluded that Bush's Iraq War had become the "cause celebre" that had helped spread Islamic extremism around the globe.

In June, U.S. intelligence also learned from an intercepted al-Qaeda communiqué that bin Laden's terrorist band wants to keep U.S. soldiers bogged down in Iraq as the best way to maintain and expand al-Qaeda's influence.

"Prolonging the war is in our interest," wrote "Atiyah," one of bin Laden's top lieutenants. Atiyah's letter and other internal al-Qaeda communications reveal that one of the group's biggest worries has been that a prompt U.S. military withdrawal might expose how fragile al-Qaeda's position is in Iraq and cause many young jihadists to lay down their guns and go home.

But a Republican victory in the Nov. 7 congressional elections almost certainly would end that concern. A GOP-controlled Congress would continue to give Bush a blank check, meaning the Iraq War would be prolonged and, quite possibly, expanded into other Middle East countries.

Bush would be tempted to double up on his Iraq wager by attacking Iran and Syria, two countries that U.S. officials have accused of aiding Iraqi insurgents. A number of U.S. military experts also believe that Bush would order the bombing of Iran if it doesn't agree to curtail its nuclear research.

An expanded war would thrill Bush's neoconservative advisers and other prominent Republicans, such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who have lusted publicly over the idea of fighting "World War III" against radical Muslims around the globe.(MORE)