BBC editor says al Qaeda supports McCain

Justin Webb, the BBC’s North America editor and blogger, drops this incendiary bomb: Islamic terrorists want war. They want suffering – among others and their own people alike. They would surely surmise that McCain will give them what they want. Bin Laden himself intervened with what many thought was the effect of keeping President Bush ...

Justin Webb, the BBC's North America editor and blogger, drops this incendiary bomb:

Justin Webb, the BBC’s North America editor and blogger, drops this incendiary bomb:

Islamic terrorists want war. They want suffering – among others and their own people alike.

They would surely surmise that McCain will give them what they want. Bin Laden himself intervened with what many thought was the effect of keeping President Bush in power in 2004 with that weird tape just before the poll.

I think al-Qaeda would back McCain – that is not an argument for or against America backing him, but it seems to me that the vague assumption that the terrorists would back a lefty is lazy thinking…

This is grossly irresponsible on Webb’s part. It was wrong when right-wing pundits and politicians said al Qaeda wanted to elect John Kerry in 2004, and it’s wrong when left-wing pundits and politicians say al Qaeda wants to elect John McCain today. The truth is, al Qaeda doesn’t really have a sophisticated understanding of the American political system — and its leaders likely see McCain and Obama or Clinton as merely two faces of the same enemy.

Now, would al Qaeda like to see the United States stay in Iraq for another four, eight years? It’s certainly possible. Iraq is a great recruiting magnet. It’s also possible, though, that al Qaeda would like the United States to withdraw so that it can declare "victory" while it still plausibly can. But I don’t think Justin Webb — or anyone else — can really say for sure which outcome al Qaeda would prefer.

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