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The Lawyers Made Us Do It
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June 15, 2004
What's Really Behind Al Qaeda's Threat To Paul Johnson
Terrorists who sized Lockheed Martin worker Paul Johnson have now issued a 72-hour ultimatum: if Saudi Arabia doesn't free Al Qaeda militants, they'll kill him. As is now the custom, the threat comes on an Islamic website with photos of the all-but-condemned-to-death prisoner, who looks terrified and humiliated.. And it isn't good news for Johnson or his family that it's posted on a credible website. In fact, what few are saying is this: unless he escaped (and a miracle like that did happen once) there is no way he is going to survive since there is no way the Saudi government is going to meet this demand -- and the terrorists know it. So within three days there will likely be another Internet-aired bloodfest, method of massacre yet unknown. The bottom line is: the terrorists want and need to scare foreign workers out of the Royal Kingdom and you don't sow fear by releasing a prisoner. That the Saudi government knows what it's facing is abundantly clear by these comments from Adel al-Jubeir, the government's foreign affairs advisor who immediately noted that his government has a no-negotiation policy with terrorists (as any thinking government would have to have):"Their strategy is to try to sow fear in people's hearts, and to panic, and to cause an exodus of foreign workers from Saudi Arabia, in particular Westerners...They are trying to scare foreign workers into leaving Saudi Arabia because they believe it will weaken the Saudi economy and consequently weaken the Saudi government, but they are mistaken."Some abroad -- and in the United States -- might be tempted to ask: Can't we reason with them? Can't we win their hearts? It's abundantly clear the answer is a resounding no. And if you don't believe it, note that the terrorists have already changed their demands. At first they had captured him (they said) to treat him the way they said American guards treated Iraqi prisoners at the center of the prisoner abuse scandal. But how they've changed their tune -- making a demand they know full well the Saudi government cannot meet, so they can kill Johnson in a public, horrorific way to send a message to other foreignors and weak-kneed governments to quit Saudi Arabia. And, indeed, if you go back and read all the news stories and analyses in the immediate aftermath of 911 Osama bin Laden's key goal from the start was to drive the United States and foreignors out of Saudi Arabia -- and establish a more pure (read that TALIBAN STYLE) government in Saudi Arabia. So we should pray for Paul Johnson -- the latest human being deemed expendable in the terrorists' bloody chess game to manuever Saudia Arabia back into a distant past. Posted By Joe Gandelman at June 15, 2004 10:37 PM | TrackBackComments
Of course they had to change their tune, when they said, "We're going to treat him the way the Americans treated the prisoners in Abu Ghraib," everyone laughed and said, "Oh, is that all? We were worried you might hurt him." Posted by: TBox at June 15, 2004 11:17 PM Well said. Posted by: Braintrust at June 16, 2004 02:05 AM Right on, TBox.
Posted by: Reid at June 16, 2004 03:28 AM Not the comfy chair!!
Posted by: Braintrust at June 16, 2004 05:59 AM What's with these websites? Where's the vaunted NSA when you need them? Have our intelligence agencies done anything not counterproductive in the last 5 years? Posted by: Mark Buehner at June 16, 2004 10:04 AM Post a comment
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