French Kidnap Victim: Terrorists Not Motivated By Iraqi Nationalism, But By Bin Ladin Jihadism

Food for thought. Someone should mention this to Chris Matthews the next time he claims that the Iraqi terrorist resistance is just like Vietcong nationalism:

Mr Malbrunot said his captors were driven more by Islamic holy war than Iraqi nationalism.

"One of the lessons we drew from our captivity was that we were immersed in Planet Bin Laden," he said.

When the men were freed earlier this week, their captors said it was because of France's anti-war stance.

But Mr Malbrunot told French television the influence of the al-Qaeda leader was especially strong while they were with "a cell of the Islamic Army in the north".

"We were very aware of the fact that it wasn't the Iraqi agenda that motivated our kidnappers, but the internationalist jihadist agenda.

"I think this is the real challenge for the next 10 years - the clash of cultures that these people are advocating, are seeking."

Remember: the left's narrative is that the Iraq War has largely caused this level of anti-American resentment and terrorism; George Bush, they like to say, is bin Ladin's recruiting officer. And they say that this is largely, or almost exclusively even, an indigenous resistance to the foreign occupation.

George Bush, on the other hand, says that this is the central front in the war on terror, and that if we don't fight them here, we'll fight them somewhere else-- possibly in New York, Washington, or Los Angeles.

The French kidnap victim doesn't seem to have much doubt about whose narrative is closer to the truth.

They want to kill us. They want to fight us-- anywhere. They have chosen Iraq not because Iraq is particularly sacred -- and not because Al Qaeda Recruiting Officer George Bush drove them to it -- but because they see it as a convenient place to kill Westerners.

Whether we invaded Iraq or not, these people would still want to kill Westerners.

Theirs is an ideology of destruction and murder, not liberation and national pride.

Remember that always.

Thanks to GregS.

posted by Ace at 04:03 PM

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