Middle East Focus: WTF is Osama? Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri React to Arab Revolutions………

Arabia Deserta

Middle East Focus: WTF is Osama? Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri React to Arab Revolutions………

WTF is Osama? Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri React to Arab Revolutions………

Winter Summer

Reactions to the Arab revolutions: Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are still cave-mates, wondering why they keep fucking up, missing all these turning points in the Arab world since 2006. In that year of 2006, most Arabs focused on Hezbollah and Nasrallah, forgetting all about al-Qaeda except in Yemen, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and some Sahel areas (no need to mention Pakistan and Afghanistan here). Osama and Ayman had joined the Arab dictators and absolute tribal monarchs oligarchs in cheering on the Israelis in their assault in Lebanon. They did it ‘tacitly’, but that did not pan out, so they accused Hezbollah of conspiring with the Israelis and blocking their path to the ‘liberation of Palestine’.
To add insult to injury, their names don't even crop up much anywhere in Arab media, except when despots are in trouble and need an alibi for the benefit of the West (read America). To a new generation of Arabs it is like “Osama who?” Quietly, a whole generation of young Arabs know as much about Bin Laden as they know about Boumedienne or Bourguiba (I know: but you can look them up). Most young Egyptians, for example, know more about Ahmad Urabi and Mohammed Abdu (even about Sayyid Darwish) than about these two schmucks, and justifiably so. That is why some may agree that Rep. Peter King may not be a totally bad sort of fellow, not totally, their kind of Irish Catholic gone eccentric right-wing Tea Partying, if you will.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com