Osama is voting for Bush

For the first time, a senior Bush administration official has publicly claimed that the insurgents in Iraq are Kerry supporters. Yes, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had the gall yesterday to suggest that insurgents in Iraq have stepped up their deadly assaults in recent weeks because they want to "influence the election against President Bush."

Putting aside the idiocy of Armitage's statement, and the clear scare tactics he's invoking. And putting aside the fact that Armitage has just lowered this administration's already-questionable credibility on whether or not we should believe their terror talk now or in the future. I got to thinking about who Osama would actually prefer in office, come November. And the answer was clear: Osama would vote for Bush.

Why? Because Bush is an insurgent's wet dream.

One of the first things you learn about insurgencies if you actually go to school to study such things (now there's an idea: Send Bush to college on Nov 2), is that while their goal is to take power, their strategy is to create the conditions in which that power is practically handed to them.

How? By forcing the government's hand into getting more and more radical, more and more punitive, forcing them to clamp down on civil liberties, to send in more troops, to blow up more cities and villages, and to basically kill more people until the population at large has had it. In essense, the revolutionaries force the people in power to create the conditions in which the revolution happens on its own, and the people end up practically begging the insurgents to step in and make it all stop.

So why does that mean Osama would vote for Bush? Because Bush is the one presidential candidate proven to be a pro at creating the conditions the insurgents need to foment a revolution in Iraq, and Bush is the one candidate who has made clear that no matter how bad things get in Iraq, not matter how much proof he's given that his current policy is a disaster, he will stick to his guns and continue to do what he's doing, even if it means taking everybody down with him. Bush is the one candidate stupid enough, and arrogant enough, and obstinate enough to walk into a trap that's already staring him in the face just so he can claim he never blinks in the face of danger. The problem is that George W. Bush confuses danger with failure.

And that is why Osama bin Laden and the insurgents in Iraq would vote for President Bush. They simply cannot afford a Kerry presidency that runs the risk of straightening this entire fiasco out, and ultimately stabilizing Iraq and the region.