There's a reason bin Laden and Zawahri are sounding panicky.

They're not the only ones.

Obama isn't just tearing down al Qaeda's message, he's dismantling their symbiotic relationship with the Republican party. They needed each other, they fed off each other, and now they both oppose the president because he's making their little game harder to play.

I'd say we've had our fill of terrons.

They think violence is the only way to get anybody's attention.

Diplomacy is a dangerous quencher of violent hatreds.

The War on Terror sounds hollower and more trite everyday.

How about a war on small-mindedness and fear-mongering?

How about folks realizing that OBL and his Saudi money are Bush fueled.

Yeah, fine rhetoric, indeed. However, until I see photos of Bagram AFB and hardened bases in Iraq razed, count me on the skeptical side.

At the same time, Bush-era scandals -- the war in Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, torture, etc. -- only fueled fundraising and recruiting successes for terrorist networks like al Qaeda.

Well, if you don't count defense contractors and political groups, both Dem and Rep.

Al-Qaeda has also said it wants all U.S. troops out of the Arabian peninsula, which includes U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar.

Bin Laden also wants the royal families ruling places like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as the dictatorships in places like Egypt, replaces with Islamic extremists bent on returning the whole Arab/Muslim world back to one big caliphate.

It really doesn't matter what we do, Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda always have a big bag of recruiting tricks that the U.S. will never be able to get rid of unless the U.S. actually helps Bin Laden establish a Wahabbi caliphate.

Bin Laden also sounded panicky when he issued tirades when Bush was president, so maybe he's just tired of being marginalized and holed up in a cave in the FATA and will rant whenever he gets the chance.

Al-Qaeda recruiting efforts are doing quite well in HOA; maybe it is time to pay more attention to Somalia rather than just focusing on the Middle East. American Somalis teenagers and young adults are leaving to train and fight with Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda in Somalia; the first American to blow himself up in a terror attack happened in Somalia back in late 2008.

But but but but, he never mentioned the Global War on Terror (TM)!!!!

"Bin Laden also sounded panicky when he issued tirades when Bush was president, so maybe he's just tired of being marginalized and holed up in a cave in the FATA and will rant whenever he gets the chance."

I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad. Either you've bought into GOP propaganda, or you just aren't paying attention.

When Bush was president, bin Laden and his top people were regularly using a sophisticated bit of reverse psychology, quite calmly taunting us about how our efforts weren't working, and how they wanted democrats in power because they were weaker than republicans. And Americans reacted predictably by getting angry and doubling down on Bush and his strategy, which was exactly what al Qaeda wanted.

Now, they are explicitly and angrily attacking Obama, but it isn't directed at us anymore. It is directed at other Muslims. Now they're imploring their own people to get angry and do something, because they know that Obama is adroitly undermining all their support.

Their tone has changed radically.

What's more, Obama seems to have a pretty clear understanding that real counter-terrorism must be conducted primarily with diplomacy, intelligence gathering, and law enforcement. By all appearances, he's abandoning the failed military-based strategy of the GOP and Bush. We can't take our eye off this, but there is reason for cautious optimism.

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BO wants islam to become democratic, to give women their rights, and to become tolerant of other religions, things islam has not been or done since its creation over 1500 years ago.

Under Islam, women can own and inherit property in their own right -- it's written right into the Koran, along with their other inheritance and marriage rights. Women in Europe and the US did not have that right until 1848 in the United States and in 1870 in England.

But I realize actual facts have no meaning for you since you've already constructed your fantasyland version of "Islam."

Oh, and before you bash Islam for being intolerant of other religions, you might want to read up on how Quakers were treated in the American colonies or the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. But I guess all of those killings were fine because it was Christians killing their fellow Christians and not Scary Scary Muslims, right?

When Bush was president, bin Laden and his top people were regularly using a sophisticated bit of reverse psychology, quite calmly taunting us about how our efforts weren't working, and how they wanted democrats in power because they were weaker than republicans. And Americans reacted predictably by getting angry and doubling down on Bush and his strategy, which was exactly what al Qaeda wanted.

You seem to give Bin Laden and his cohorts a lot of credit. Bush's strategy seemed to work quite well. Al-Qaeda lost its training camps in Afghanistan, lost its money train coming from hawalas in UAE and hasn't been able to muster an attack on the U.S. homeland since 2001. Al-Qaeda has lost at least four #3 men since 2001. Bin Laden and Zawahiri have been trapped and desperate for years. This didn't suddenly happen on 1/20/09.

My point is this: Al-Qaeda rants and raves all the time. They don't play politics or use nuance when they are trapped in a cave and their only means of communicating is via a cassette tape delivered by a human courier.

Why does anyone care what Bin Laden has to say anymore? Al-Qaeda has moved past him. See Somalia as an example.

"There's a reason bin Laden and Zawahri are sounding panicky."

And Bill Orally & Rush Limpballs & Mitch McConnell & the rest of the 'just say no' domestic terrorists.

Al-Qaeda lost its training camps in Afghanistan, lost its money train coming from hawalas in UAE and hasn't been able to muster an attack on the U.S. homeland since 2001.

Considering it was 8 years between their 1993 WTC attack and their 2001 attack, I don't think you can give a huge amount of credit to Bush for protecting us. Mass attacks like that are difficult to plan and carry out from overseas so, frankly, I'm not surprised they had to resort to attacking American embassies when their attempts were thwarted here.

BO wants islam to become democratic, to give women their rights, and to become tolerant of other religions, things islam has not been or done since its creation over 1500 years ago.

Well, they've still got a big marginal lead on Christianity, which didn't become Democratic and tolerant of other religions until it was 1800 years old, didn't give women their rights until it was nearly 2000 years old, and even those achievements are kinda shaky right now.

Not to disfavor the two big monotheistic relgions over the world's other religions and political philosophies, most which are ambivalent, at best, on those topics.

I'm not surprised they had to resort to attacking American embassies when their attempts were thwarted here.

"Thwarted here" is the key. Thanks for making my point.

"It's become a regular feature of some of the president's bigger speeches -- anticipate and preempt the inevitable criticism."

This may explain why the criticism from the Right has become increasingly unhinged... Having the obvious 'inevitable' criticism cut off pre-emptively, all they can do is make stuff like, "he never used the word democracy."

Which 2 families were enjoying each other's company when the 9/11 attack took place? The Bushes and The Bin Laden's. That's a fact. Enough said.