Wednesday, May 29, 2002
[posted by jaed at 8:24 PM]Looking into the crystal ball:
The Telegraph reports on the visit of Leila Khaled to Britain to speak. You remember Khaled - she was a plane hijacker three decades ago, and is responsible for several deaths. They invited her to speak at the House of Commons in January; this visit, she's telling something called "the School for Oriental and African Studies" that people who blow up babies are actually "freedom fighters".
Now let's set the Way Ahead Machine to 2007, and see what the future holds:
Reuters News Service -- London, England -- September 11 2007 -- Osama bin Laden, long suspected of complicity in the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, today spoke before the British House of Commons. Mr. bin Laden told the Members of Parliament that Britain has "much to atone for", and concluded his address by reading a poem of his own composition praising the suicide bomber who recently blew up an Israeli day-care center as "the pure one who brings liberation with his pristine body".
The US State Department called the speech "unhelpful" and "provocative"; however, the UK interior ministry issued a statement saying that "Honestly engaging perspectives such as Mr. bin Laden's is essential in the modern world" and "The Americans must learn that they cannot expect the rest of the world to follow their lead."
Mr. bin Laden is a respected figure within the terror group al Qaeda, which last month claimed responsibility for the smallpox attack that has thus far claimed 230,000 American lives. He is scheduled to speak on "Liberation and Jihad" to the School for Oriental and African Studies a week from now, and may speak at other meetings, though his spokesman describes the trip as "primarily a recruiting effort".
Anyone care to lay odds?
(Link via Little Green Footballs.)
