Beaten by Bin Laden in the PR Game

Thomas Friedman has it right when he claims that President Bush has been beaten by Osama Bin Laden and his henchman in the terror game. Friedman says,

"One thing that has always baffled me about the Bush team’s war effort in Iraq and against Al Qaeda is this: How could an administration that was so good at Swift-boating its political opponents at home be so inept at Swift-boating its geopolitical opponents abroad?"

What Friedman is saying in essence is that you can never let terrorists off the hook by being silent in the face of their actions or their press releases. We know that terrorists have their supporters, so do the victims. But why are the latter so silent in the face of the former?

Witness the case of Sami Al-Arian. Al-Arian lived a lie for more than 10 years claiming he had nothing to do whatsoever with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. While acquitted of the most serious charges in a 2005 trial, he pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding PIJ. Immediately, his supporters launched a non-stop PR campaign how Al-Arian only took the plea to avoid another trial because he had no money to pay his lawyers or to save his family from sitting through another trial. We still get that same line today while he awaits deportation. Rather than admit his plea exists, his supporters want the world to look away.

Neither the US nor victims' families should remain silent in the face of terror. You have to speak out, loudly and frequently.



Friedman: Swift Boated By Bin Laden