Adam's Apple
Senior Member
- Apr 25, 2004
- 4,092
- 449
- 48
Bin Laden & Co. Lose Market Share
By Joanthan Gurwitz, San Antonio Express-News
09/04/2005
Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida acolytes around the globe are a lot of things: terrorists, murderers, extremists, theocratic medievalists, homophobic hoodlums and misogynistic thugs.
In addition, they are peddlers. They are peddlers selling a particular view of history and vision for the future. Against other visionary products from both secular and religious establishments, Bin Laden & Co. have to demonstrate to global consumers why their brand of Islamist utopianism is better than the rest.
In a videotape that bin Laden released in late 2001, he told his followers, "When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse."
It's a troglodytic variation of a simple maxim: Everyone loves a winner. It's why Wheaties puts Tim Duncan, Kirk Gibson and Carly Patterson on its boxes rather than Mike Tyson, John Rocker and Tonya Harding.
Islamic extremists have their own version of the breakfast of champions. Images of 9-11, of beheadings and from bombings in Bali, Madrid, London and everywhere else are their trademark. These acts of inhuman violence all accomplished tactical goals. Yet they were also all in service to the larger strategic goal of showing Islamism to be an uncompromising and inevitable victor.
At the end of the day, bin Laden and his associates are in the public relations game. So the recently released results of a long-term metasurvey conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project will come as a major disappointment to the mullah marketers.
for full article:
http://www.mysanantonio.com. Do a search for Jonathan Gurwitz. Should be second article listed.
By Joanthan Gurwitz, San Antonio Express-News
09/04/2005
Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida acolytes around the globe are a lot of things: terrorists, murderers, extremists, theocratic medievalists, homophobic hoodlums and misogynistic thugs.
In addition, they are peddlers. They are peddlers selling a particular view of history and vision for the future. Against other visionary products from both secular and religious establishments, Bin Laden & Co. have to demonstrate to global consumers why their brand of Islamist utopianism is better than the rest.
In a videotape that bin Laden released in late 2001, he told his followers, "When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse."
It's a troglodytic variation of a simple maxim: Everyone loves a winner. It's why Wheaties puts Tim Duncan, Kirk Gibson and Carly Patterson on its boxes rather than Mike Tyson, John Rocker and Tonya Harding.
Islamic extremists have their own version of the breakfast of champions. Images of 9-11, of beheadings and from bombings in Bali, Madrid, London and everywhere else are their trademark. These acts of inhuman violence all accomplished tactical goals. Yet they were also all in service to the larger strategic goal of showing Islamism to be an uncompromising and inevitable victor.
At the end of the day, bin Laden and his associates are in the public relations game. So the recently released results of a long-term metasurvey conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project will come as a major disappointment to the mullah marketers.
for full article:
http://www.mysanantonio.com. Do a search for Jonathan Gurwitz. Should be second article listed.
