There is something disturbing in the nature of post 9/11 public discourse.
Incessantly,
on a daily basis,
Al Qaeda is referred to by the Western media,
government officials,
members of the US Congress,
Wall Street analysts, etc.
as an underlying cause of numerous World events.
Occurences of a significant political, social or strategic nature
– including the US presidential elections campaign
– are routinely categorized by referring to Al Qaeda,
the alleged architect of the September 11 2001 attacks.
[ Emphasis on the word ‘alleged’ ]
What is striking
is the extent of media coverage of “Al Qaeda related events”,
not to mention the mountains of op eds and authoritative “analysis” pertaining to “terror events” in different parts of the World.
Routine mention of Al Qaeda “fanatics”, “jihadists”, etc.
[… like Adam Gadahn ]
has become – from a news standpoint – trendy and fashionable.
A Worldwide ritual of authoritative media reporting has unfolded.
At the time of writing (March 24, 2012),
“Al Qaeda events” had 183 million entries on Google and 18,200 news entries.
A panoply of Al Qaeda related events and circumstances is presented to public opinion on a daily basis.
These include terrorist threats,
warnings and attacks,
police investigations,
insurgencies and counter-insurgencies,
country-level regime change,
social conflict,
sectarian violence,
racism,
religious divisions,
Islamic thought,
Western values, etc.
In turn,
Al Qaeda – War on Terrorism rhetoric
permeates political discourse at all levels of government,
including bipartisan debate on Capitol Hill,
in committees of the House and the Senate,
at the British House of Commons,
and,
lest we forget,
at the United Nations Security Council.
All of these complex Al Qaeda related occurrences are explained – by politicians,
the corporate media,
Hollywood
and the Washington think tanks
under a single blanket “bad guys” heading,
in which Al Qaeda is casually and repeatedly pinpointed as
“the cause”
of numerous terror events around the World.
[ In other words
~ you don’t have a snowflake’s summer chance
if you want to frame your own perception on Al Qaeda – and what Al Qaeda actually is ( or isn’t )
without the labels, opinions, and worldview that someone else feeds you
– by design. ]
.