US Backed Israeli Abuse of Palestinians Motivated Bin Laden

US Backed Israeli Abuse of Palestinians Motivated Bin Laden "Very early in his career and very consistently, bin Laden has been outspoken in support of the Palestinians and of course condemning the Israelis, so it's an issue that clearly weighs heavily on his mind and is motivating." - Michael Scheuer former CIA Bin Laden Unit Chief interviewed by Scott Horton on Antiwar Radio Listen to the full interview: Antiwar Radio: Scott Horton Interviews Michael Scheuer

Osama bin Laden Has Been Angry About U.S. Support of Israel for Decades

The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has spread the lie that "bin Laden never focused on this issue. He only started talking about "Palestine" after September 11." Friedman put that lie in his best selling book "Longitudes & Attitudes." Friedman claims, "the fact is that bin Laden never focused on this issue. He only started talking about "Palestine" after September 11, when he sensed that he might be losing the support of the Arab street. " (p311 of Longitudes & Attitudes ) and " Osama bin Laden never mentioned the Palestinian cause as motivating his actions until he felt he was losing support in the Arab world. " (p361-362 of Longitudes & Attitudes ) What Friedman has written is a flat out lie. To give just one example that disproves what Friedman wrote: "Your position against Muslims in Palestine is despicable and disgraceful. America has no shame. " - Osama bin Laden May 1998

This canard has been spread by the mainstream media.

Peter Bergen points out that lies have been pushed: "conventional wisdom has it that bin Laden adopted the Palestinians issue only recently. Reading this declaration [the first declaration of war, issued in 1996] SHOULD PUT THAT CANARD TO REST." p164 The Bin Laden I Know, Peter Bergen

A chutzpah award goes to CNN's Anderson Cooper for pushing that canard even after reading Bergen's book. Anderson Cooper's pro-Israel bias is so extreme that even after reading Bergen's book, he still insisted on pushing the same canard. Cooper was actually interviewing Peter Bergen and says to him: "It -- it's interesting, also, to hear them reference Palestinians. As -- as I read in your book "The Osama Bin Laden I Know: The Oral History of Osama bin Laden," I mean, bin Laden wasn't talking about Palestinians from the get-go."

Bergen looked uncomfortable in having to explain to Cooper, "Well, he -- he has always been interested in the Palestinian issue."

Pundits and politicians are deceiving the American people about these foreign policies. Thomas Friedman also LIES when he wrote that terrorists "have no specific ideological program or demands. Rather, they are driven by a generalized hatred of the U.S., Israel and other supposed enemies of Islam." He is a liar, it is not "generalized hatred" it is specific things! It is beyond the pale to feed the public lies about life and death issues. Friedman wrote that in 1998, after years of crystal clear messages from the 1993 letter to the NYT to the 1998 Fatwa which lists 3 specific policies, U.S. occupation of the Arabian Peninsula., U.S. aggression against the Iraqi people, U.S. support of Israel.