Reply #34: I finally read the latest supposed Osama speech

[JDPriestly]

and, I agree that frankly, like the pre-election speech, it appears to be written from an American perspective, not from that of a devout Muslim. It isn't so much the lack of flowery language and quotes from the Koran. Those could be explained if we assume that Osama addressed this speech to the American people.

What I question is the underlying values of the author of this speech. The statements about the feelings of the soldier strike me as having been written by a westerner. The writer switches perspectives very frequently -- talking about the thoughts of the American people, the soldier on the battlefield, the Al Qaeda operatives now, the people of Iraq -- it is a real mish-mash of perspectives. That switching of perspectives is typical in our literature. Also, he puts the human view in the forefront. He doesn't seem at all concerned about God's view. In past speeches, Osama always presented his own words as sort of being God's words. He seemed to want to show himself to be speaking, if not on behalf of God, at least with the authority of God on his side.

I'm not so sure that his perspective and his human viewpoint are typical of writing in the Arab world. In this recent speech, Osama goes into the thoughts of the people in situations he is describing. He discusses the thoughts of the American people (as expressed in polls), the soldier, Bush (and even Wolfowitz) in the way I would expect a westerner to describe them. He seems to feel sorry for the American soldier and to be interested in the American soldier's feelings. He doesn't mention whether he thinks God condemns the soldier.

Osama's perspective in this speech also strikes me as odd for someone who is on a jihad against American soldiers. The jihad arises from fanatical beliefs about the duty of followers of Islam to destroy people they view as infidels. Whoever wrote this speech was not describing the soldier's feelings from the viewpoint of someone with the value system of a believer in the jihad.

Of course, another explanation is that Bin Laden doesn't believe the jihad propaganda but is merely on a power trip and is very western in his analysis of the motives of those who oppose his power. Maybe this speech merely shows the true Bin Laden.

Another odd thing about the speech is that Osama seems to be aware of the current polling trends in America but doesn't seem to realize that Wolfowitz is now at the World Bank, not in the U.S. government. Maybe it's all the same to him, but it seems a little odd to me that Osama would follow the news about American polls and books, but not notice that Wolfowitz is no longer a part of the Bush administration.