The Osama tape

By now, you've all heard that Osama bin Ladin has released another tape to the media.
In this one, he offers a truce, stating that Americans don't really want a war, and threatens another terrorist act within America itself.
Let's look at these two statements.

1) The offer of a truce has been touted on the right wing blogs as Osama giving up. Yeah, right. He's running out of suicide bombers and Number 2 men. Much more likely he wants to regain control there in Iraq. If you haven't noticed, the bombs haven't been aimed at Americans much anymore - they've been aimed at civilians. That's the trouble with living in a cave, incommunicado - your people start taking the initiative.

2) The right has also been laughing off the threat, when they've paid any attention at all to it. The futile posturing of a defeated man, they say. Perhaps. But if he DOES have something set up, this is the time to use it. Bush has labeled himself as the war president. Whenever anyone has asked him about the scandals that have risen up around him and his government, he brings up 9/11, the war on terrorism, and his devotion to winning it.
It was his image as warrior that won his re-election; people saw him as a better protector than Kerry.
A successful terrorist attack, right now, on US soil, could very well ruin him. It would crush his last talking points, and those of his party.
Which is what makes the timing so interesting. The NSA scandal is in full swing, and the Congressional elections are at hand. Proving that the NSA wiretaps were useless - didn't stop bin Laden! - and that the Republicans had frittered away the last 4 years doing nothing for security, would probably mean a Democrat majority in the House.
Which could mean a hostile government that would hound Bush and his people right out of office.

I don't know about you, but I'm staying away from monuments until after the next election.