Posted on 11/04/2001 4:44:05 PM PST by WIMom
Osama bin Laden has made many claims and charges. His most recent statement asserts that the Coalition is waging a campaign against Muslims, Afghans and Islam. You can draw your own conclusions: the facts contradict bin Laden's claim.
Terrorist Attacks: The Muslim Toll
The United States lost thousands of innocent citizens, including women and children, in attacks in Kenya, Tanzania, Yemen, and the United States. Hundreds of Muslims died in those attacks, including citizens from Islamic nations of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey.
Ask yourselves this question: What did bin Laden do to defend the Muslims who died in those attacks? Nothing. He murdered them.
Afghan People
The United States leads the international community in providing relief aid to the Afghan people. More than 80 percent of food shipments through the UN's food program originate in the United States, and President Bush has announced $320 million in aid for the Afghan people.
-- The United States also has dropped more than a million ration packages to the Afghan people.
-- This is not new: the United States spent hundreds of millions of dollars to aid Afghanistan before this campaign, and we are resolved to remain Afghanistan's largest aid donor.
Ask yourselves: What has bin Laden done for the Afghan people? How much food, medicine, and other assistance has he delivered?
Afghanistan
The United States supports UN efforts to find a broad-based political settlement in Afghanistan that is led by Afghans and respects the rights of Afghan people. These leaders represent all major Afghan groups.
Ask yourselves: What efforts at peace has bin Laden made? None. How many Afghan leaders has he killed? He has condemned the UN and brought in thousands of foreigners to Afghanistan who have done nothing but bring fighting, destruction, and suffering to the country.
Fight for Muslim Peoples Worldwide
The United States has defended Muslims around the world. We fought for and beside Muslims in Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo and helped the Afghans in their war against the Soviet occupation. We have supported the independence of Muslim countries from colonialism. America also spent thousands of millions of dollars to help Afghans liberate their country from the Soviet occupation.
Ask yourselves: What did bin Laden do for those oppressed Muslims? Nothing.
The United States and Islam
Bin Laden charges that our campaign against terror is a war against Islam and Muslims. The United States is a multi-religious country with several million Muslim citizens. Countries around the world support U.S. efforts, including the largest Islamic political group in the world, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
-- The OIC issued a statement condemning the murders carried about by bin Laden.
-- In addition to this statement by Islamic nations, the entire world condemned these attacks in a unanimous UN resolution (Resolution 1368) and called on all countries to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Ask yourselves: How many of these same countries support what bin Laden has done? None.
Conclusion
You will see propaganda from bin Laden many times, claming that he defends Muslims and represents the Islamic world. In the face of empty propaganda, the facts should never be forgotten:
-- The United States has defended Muslims. Bin Laden has murdered them.
-- The United States feeds Afghans. Bin Laden wages war that starves them.
-- The United States supports plans to help Afghans lead a peaceful Afghanistan. Bin Laden supports plans to help foreigners inside Afghanistan destroy the country.
-- The United States has won support for this campaign from Islamic nations around the world, representing many millions of Muslims. These same countries condemn bin Laden.
Islam is a religion of peace and charity. Bin Laden has distorted this tradition by murdering innocents in the name of religion. He has designed these acts to raise his profile from a marginal terrorist to a defender of Muslims. His failure is inevitable, not only because of the evil he had perpetrated.
-- He also will fail because we will bring him to justice.
-- If he is not brought to justice, we will bring justice to him.
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