This is a tale of two speeches by two wartime leaders, each rallying his followers to fight for justice and combat evil aggressors. Placed side by side, the two speeches, nearly equal in length, are near-mirror images of each other. One speech was delivered by President Bush, the other by Osama bin Laden.
In his State of the Union address on Jan. 20, Bush called for a continuation of the war on terror. Bin Laden's taped speech, broadcast by the Al Jazeera television network 16 days before Bush's, called for a continuation of the war on America.
Bush opened by describing America as "a nation called to great responsibilities ... on the offensive against the terrorists who started this war."
Bin Laden also said a war is raging: "My message to you concerns inciting and continuing to urge for jihad.... So, lend me your ears and open up your hearts to me." Lest anyone misunderstand the purpose of jihad and consider it a purely spiritual exercise, Bin Laden was explicit: "It is a religious-economic war.... There can be no dialogue with the occupiers except through arms."
Both leaders said in their speeches that they regard the pursuit of the war as their most important mission. "Our greatest responsibility," said Bush, "is the active defense of the American people."
Bin Laden vowed to his followers: "By God, I am keen on safeguarding your religion and your worldly life."
"The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States -- and war is what they got," proclaimed Bush. "Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror."
To Bin Laden, however, it is the Muslim world that is surrounded by infidels, its holiest places occupied and its existence in peril. U.S. forces and their allies occupy Afghanistan and Iraq, have military bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, and operate in Pakistan. U.S.-supported Israeli tanks kill Palestinians and knock down their homes. Muslims must therefore mobilize "to repulse the grand plots that have been hatched against our nation."
Bush contended that "we have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire."
But Bin Laden compares the Americans to the ancient Romans, ever pushing out their frontiers of control.
Bush regards the war on terror as a finite undertaking, with a beginning -- Sept. 11, 2001 -- and an end.
