Times of India

Washington, Sep 9: In a videotaped message replete with references that indicate he’s up to speed with contemporary debates, Osama bin Laden has delivered a political broadside against the United States while calling on Americans to abandon capitalism and embrace Islam. 

The 30-minute videotape contains a leftist-sounding political and foreign policy critique of the American system while being free of any terrorist threat except for an eye-for-an-eye warning. Instead, an almost placatory ‘Professor’ Bin Laden beseeches Americans to ditch their political system controlled by big corporations that profit from war. They are the real terrorists, he says. 

The six-page transcript extracted from the videotape could well have been written by a leftist academic, except for the panacea of Islam that bin Laden offers. Indeed, bin Laden cites Noam Chomsky, the eminent American leftist and trenchant critic of US policies, including the war in Iraq. “Among the most capable of those from your side who speak to you on this topic (the war in Iraq) and on the manufacturing of public opinion is Noam Chomsky, who spoke sober words of advice prior to the war,’’ bin Laden says, adding, “but the leader of Texas doesn’t like those who give advice.’’ 

There are many startling references in the latest message to contemporary events, including to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nikolai Sarkozi, that suggest that the world’s most-wanted fugitive has access to news media, and taped the message very recently.