FOX News attempts to connect Osama bin Laden with American left and Democrats RAW STORY

Published: Saturday September 8, 2007





Print This Email This Two YouTube videos feature segments of Fox News' Hannity and Colmes, featuring a total of four guests appearing to offer comment on the recent video released by what appears to be Osama bin Laden. The guests and co-host Sean Hannity work towards connecting bin Laden's speech to the current tone among the Democrats. In the first video, former Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card finds it "outrageous" that the video has been released to coincide with the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11/2001. "He's taunting America again," says Card, "and he's calling for us to take action that is obscene, and I can't believe that there are people in Congress that will actually follow the direction of a sworn enemy of this country rather than take the direction of the person sworn to defend the country, the President of the United States." "I don't think that we should view all of his threats with great credibility," continues Card, "...but we should definitely take it seriously." "We've had to battle fascism and Nazism and communism and totalitarianism," says host Sean Hannity, "and I view this as modern-day Nazism; and he really reveals the twisted ideology that he supports." "[bin Laden's] got a warped sense of responsibility for the people that he claims to love and lead," responds Card. "He wants to send young men and women in innocence into situations where they're going to die. He's a sworn enemy of this country; he's a sworn enemy of democracy." Continues Card, "He basically says people don't have the ability to govern themselves." "He seems to adopt the exact same language being used by the hard left in this country," Hannity says, "as he describes what's going on in Iraq as a civil war. He actually used the term 'Neocons.' He talks about global warming. He demonizes capitalisms (sic) and corporations in this whole thing -- very, very specific language. It seems to be coming from somebody who is keenly aware of the world situation and the battle and the conflict in America over this war, and even admonishing the Democratic Party for not ending the war." Card calls al Qaeda a "good organization," saying it's "very able." He says that bin Laden has lost the ability to control the War on Terror but is the one "championing" it, calling for attacks on the United States and American interests. "He's a desperate man, and a dangerous man." Co-host Alan Colmes interjects that the video also speaks against separation of church and state, and that "religion should be a very important part of what governments do," noting that the video's talking points don't all align with the "hard left." Colmes, who goes on to ask how al Qaeda could have been allowed to regroup, and if it was a mistake for President Bush to make the famous comment in March of 2002 that he "wasn't concerned" about bin Laden. "The United States Government does think about bin Laden," responds Card, "but we are also interested in winning the war on terror, so we're not disproportionately focused on Osama bin Laden: one person." Card, after reiterating that the current offensive in Iraq is part of the War on Terror, says that the President is concerned about, but won't be "preoccupied with," Osama bin Laden. "He's concerned about winning the War on Terror; he's concerned about protecting the United States and our interests, and that's really what he's doing." al Qaeda and the reformed Taliban have regrouped, says Colmes, as he sees it as an indication that the efforts in the War on Terror have been lopsided, "misdirecting" efforts to Iraq while forces have been allowed to align elsewhere. Says Card: "Segments of their organization are--continue to be a threat, but we are definitely winning the War on Terror. We are defeating them in places where they're looking to be successful." "Counterterrorism experts say al Qaeda's regrouped. The Taliban's regrouped. Iraq: We're in the middle of a civil war," says Colmes, as he bluntly asks what evidence Card has that the United States is winning the War on Terror. The War on Terror may be a battle that goes on "for generations," says Card, citing "lots of evidence," but "we cannot let our guard down. They want to attack us." "Maybe if we had taken him when the Sudan offered him on a silver platter," concludes Hannity, "we'd be in better shape today." The second video features hosts Hannity and Colmes with Fox News Military Analyst Bill Cowan, Pajamas Media editor Evan Miniter, and author Jeff Scarborough. "It's fear, it's propaganda," says Cowan of the bin Laden video, seeking to make Americans fearful on the annniversary of 9/11. We're going to be attacked again by "somebody," he insists, with or without a video release. Turning to Miniter, Colmes asks if we should be concerned, given Fred Thompson's recent flip over whether the need to capture bin Laden is real or "symbolic." "I don't speak for the Thompson campaign," says Miniter, "but certainly, getting bin Laden, while this is a war, not a manhunt; is enormously important, both for symbolic reasons and for actual military reasons." Miniter continues: "The United States has arrested and deported some 700 people connected to terrorism, al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, and we've disrupted a lot of plots." Cowan says that we're right to continue focusing on al Qaeda because there is yet to be another attack on the United States, despite the fact that terrorists have been "working hard" to do so. Cowan also says that the Iranians are "every bit as diligent" as al Qaeda about attacking the United States. "An attack is going to occur at some point," he repeats. Co-host Sean Hannity and Mr. Miniter discuss the color of bin Laden's beard in the video and debate whether or not the beard, and/or the whole person in the video, is authentic. The voice has been authenticated, says Miniter, but not the "video image." Also, Hannity and Miniter allude to the video attempting to influence American opinion by using what they consider "hard left" rhetoric. Quips co-host Colmes, "I didn't know we could look at bin Laden as a political pundit." More on this can be found at News Hounds.



