Terrorists Endorse Kerry

The Army of Ansar al-Sunnah, of hostage beheading fame, has issued a press release endorsing John Kerry for president:

Praise be to Allah, it increased the joy in our hearts that John Kerry, the presidential candidate criticized the Bush governmentfor taking so long in making this declaration. The one who may be president of America [John Kerry] is already struck with terror by our brothers from the Tawheed wal-Jihad Movement [Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s group]. The repeated atacks that have targetted the evil Bush are now echoing on Kerry, even though he is not yet a president. This is what Allah means when he commands us to ‘terrorize your enemy and the enemy of Allah.”

I agree with Rusty Shackleford that it doesn’t therefore follow that a vote for Kerry is a vote for terrorism. And, indeed, it’s possible that a terrorist group will endorse Bush, if they haven’t done so. Michael Scheuer, author of Imperial Hubris, contends that al Qaeda is ecstactic that Bush is in office and fighting the terror war so aggressively. Still, this is rather amusing.

FILED UNDER: 2004 Election, Terrorism, , , , , , , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is a Professor of Security Studies. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Tim says:

    I guess are enemies are as divided as we are. I mean, dammit, these guys are for Kerry, but Iran is for Bush – what’s an enemy combatant to do?

  2. JP Sobel says:

    How do you read this as an endorsement of “John Kerry, the presidential candidate”? This communique is intented to ridicule Mr. Bush and to goad Mr. Kerry.

    There’s no endorsement here.

  3. DemonPoet says:

    Or maybe the endorsement of John Kerry is mean’t to get Bush re-elected as they feel that endorsing Kery will result in more Bush Votes…

  4. John Lamar says:

    http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040317/325/eotq9.html

    Do your homework, terrorists have already said they support Bush (and it isn’t hard to figure out why):
    —————
    WE WANT BUSH TO WIN

    The statement said it supported U.S. President George W. Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader “more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom.”

    In comments addressed to Bush, the group said:

    “Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as civilisation.”

    “Because of this we desire you (Bush) to be elected.”

    The group said its cells were ready for another attack and time was running out for allies of the United States.

    “Whose turn is it next? Will it be Japan or America, or Italy, Britain or Oslo or Australia?” the statement said, adding Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were also targets.

    The group is named after Muhammed Atef, also known as Abu Hafs, a close bin Laden aide killed in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan

  5. The Anti-John_Lamar says:

    LOL! Such an open statement must be held high by the media, or even the fair and balanced New York Times. It is true that the terrorists don’t like Democrats, but it is also true that they like the UN, which is a conglomerate of special interest groups, with the integrity of dictatorships composing it. Reference the guy who calls himself “demon poet”