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2004 US Presidential Election
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November 01, 2004
Terrorism | Bin Laden Offered Truce to Individual US States

The corrected translation of Bin Laden’s last line puts a new complexion on things. From MEMRI :

The tape of Osama bin Laden that was aired on Al-Jazeera(1) on Friday, October 29th included a specific threat to “each U.S. state,” designed to influence the outcome of the upcoming election against George W. Bush. The U.S. media in general mistranslated the words “ay wilaya” (which means “each U.S. state”)(See Note) to mean a “country” or “nation” other than the U.S., while in fact the threat was directed specifically at each individual U.S. state. This suggests some knowledge by bin Laden of the U.S. electoral college system. In a section of his speech in which he harshly criticized George W. Bush, bin Laden stated: “Any U.S. state that does not toy with our security automatically guarantees its own security.”

Note: “Wilaya” refers specifically to a U.S. state; it would never refer to an independent country. The term for such a country is “Dawla.”

Hat Tip : NZ Bear



Posted by Alan Brain at November 1, 2004 10:16 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Clever, clever Osama…does he think he can start a US civil war between individual states?

Posted by: minarchist [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 1, 2004 10:29 AM

America, your choice is clear. Who do you stand with?

Speaking for my red state: Come and get us Ussama, you worthless bag of skin!

Posted by: torpedo_eight [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 1, 2004 01:27 PM

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