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TERRORISM: Bin Laden Calls for Attacks on Oil Industry

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posted on Dec, 19 2004 @ 10:51 AM
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In an audiotape released this past Thursday on a Islamic website, Bin Laden calls for attacks on the oil industry and urges militants to disrupt the flow of oil to the west, claiming that he successfully drove the Soviet Union into bankruptcy in the 1980s. Bin Laden also alledgely praises the attacks on the American consulate in Saudi Arabia which occurred on December 6th. Bin Laden hopes that attacks on the oil industry will cripple the U.S. economy, but analysts suggests that only an attack on the stock exchange would cause any major effect, most feel that the US economy can absorb attacks on the oil supply.
 



www.cumberlinkl.com

"Go on and try to prevent them from getting oil," the speaker said. "Concentrate your operations on that, especially in Iraq and the Gulf."

It was believed to be the first time a purported bin Laden tape in effect called for attacks on the oil industry. But he has flaunted the economic theme before, recalling in his most recent video how Afghan mujahedeen "bled Russia for 10 years, until it went bankrupt" and taunting the U.S. government over the size of its budget deficit -- which peaked at $413 billion last year.

Security and terrorism experts suggest bin Laden's claims to be undermining the United States economically are largely propaganda, noting the flexible, market-driven U.S. economy is a far cry from the creaky, bureaucratic Soviet giant that disintegrated in 1991.

Still, the economic argument gives bin Laden a tool he can use to rally his supporters and inflate his aura of success by claiming damage caused by other factors as his own handiwork.

Spurred by the new audiotape, Muslim radicals using chat rooms on Islamic Web sites debated Friday what weapons could be used to attack an oil tanker in the strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

Bin Laden "sees us as poised on this precipice, and he's going to push us into the abyss," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Rand Corporation.

As Bin Laden put it in his video aimed at Americans just days before the Nov. 2 presidential election: "The real loser is you. It is the American people and their economy."

The al-Qaida leader cites the experience of Afghan mujahedeen fighters "in using guerrilla warfare and the war of attrition to fight tyrannical superpowers" to drive the Soviets out.

Bin Laden was among U.S.-supported Islamic fighters in Afghanistan, backed with money and weapons in hopes of weakening Russia, the United States' opponent in the Cold War.

The Soviet comparison is aimed as much at bin Laden supporters as at Americans, says Rand analyst Hoffman. "That's how he motivates and animates people and addresses morale -- telling them, 'No one thought we could achieve that feat, and by the same token no one thinks we can achieve this feat of defeating the United States, but we will,'" Hoffman said.

Retired Gen. William Odom, a scholar at the Hudson Institute and an expert in the Soviet collapse, said bin Laden's analogy is off base since the Soviet Union collapsed for reasons other than Afghanistan, including the weakness of its state-run economy.

As far as spending on Iraq, Odom said damage to the U.S. economy is attributable to the Bush Administration embarking on a costly war. In the fall 2003, Congress approved $87.5 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $25 billion more last spring, and Bush is expected to request another $75 billion to $100 billion early in 2005.

"If we're stupid enough to go off and do something like that, bin Laden can justly crow about it," Odom said. "But I don't think he can take credit for having caused it."

Odom believes no al-Qaida strategy can topple U.S. dominance.

"In an operational sense, U.S.-made policies, not bin Laden's actions, have risked putting the United States in a very serious situation," he said.

Terrorists "have never brought down a liberal democracy," Odom said. "Terrorists like bin Laden can cause trouble but they're not a strategic problem, they're a tactical nuisance."

Princeton University economist Alan Krueger said, "The U.S. economy is too large and diverse to be sunk by terrorism."


Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


One major discrepancy I noted in this article, is that there is no mention of CIA confirmation of this latest audiotape being that of Bin Laden. Regardless if the voice on the tape is Bin Laden or not, the tape served it purpose by giving Islamic Extremists more fodder to chew on. While the US economy will not crumble due to attacks on the oil industry, it will certainly make life for Americans more difficult with higher prices at the gas stations and deeper dents in our wallets as we try to stay warm this winter.

[edit on 19-12-2004 by Banshee]



posted on Dec, 19 2004 @ 11:18 AM
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Originally posted by worldwatcher
In an audiotape released this past Thursday on a Islamic ..........



"In an operational sense, U.S.-made policies, not bin Laden's actions, have risked putting the United States in a very serious situation," he said.

Terrorists "have never brought down a liberal democracy," Odom said. "Terrorists like bin Laden can cause trouble but they're not a strategic problem, they're a tactical nuisance."

Princeton University economist Alan Krueger said, "The U.S. economy is too large and diverse to be sunk by terrorism."


Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


such as not sequestering & destroying Saddams' ammo dumps

the 'problem/tactical nuisance' characterization is..... SOooo CAVALIER!!!
IMO; (Mr.Odom needs some couch time at a psych MD, or something)

Rah-Rah?? what gives with Prof. Krueger...job hunting for a Bush regime Post?

...bare with me, today?



posted on Dec, 19 2004 @ 11:26 AM
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Many of us believe that the real reason behind the invasion of Iraq is oil. Whether or not the tape is a genuine Bin Ladin, makes no difference. That message is apt.



 
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