News Release

* Turkey * NATO * Bin Ladin Tape

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SANAR YURDATAPAN
Yurdatapan was recently awarded the Global Rights Defenders award by Human Rights Watch. He said today: “Turkey is boiling. Ninety percent of the people are against an attack on Iraq. We are shocked at the depictions we see of the situation in the U.S. media. People here are not unhappy with NATO. No one here is with Saddam, we know the horrors he has done, but — outside of a tiny minority which is hoping to benefit — nobody wants this.”
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WILLIAM HARTUNG
Senior research fellow at the World Policy Institute, Hartung has written several articles on NATO. He said today: “The flap between the U.S. and its NATO allies over when and how to provide assistance to Turkey in the event of a war in Iraq underscores the contradictions inherent in keeping NATO on life support in a post-Cold War environment. The Warsaw Pact has long since gone onto the dust heap of history and NATO deserves the same fate.”
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DIANE PERLMAN
A clinical psychologist and contributor to the new book The Psychology of Terrorism, Perlman said today: “A U.S. invasion would be an unparalleled opportunity for Bin Ladin to magnify his power and mobilize his base. He couldn’t do it without our help. Bin Ladin’s methodology, as demonstrated on 9/11, is to take our force and turn it against us. Our military buildup, threats, and domination provide him with material needed to motivate more followers.”
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JILLIAN SCHWEDLER
Professor of politics at the University of Maryland, Schwedler has monitored Bin Ladin’s statements since well before the September 11 attacks. She said today: “We should not be surprised by this statement from Bin Ladin, in fact we should have anticipated it. This reaching out to Iraq at this point in time is reminiscent of the Al-Qaeda statement of 1998 that expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people. Fringe figures like Bin Ladin seek to associate themselves with … popular issues.”
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AS’AD ABUKHALIL
Author of Bin Laden, Islam and America’s New “War on Terrorism,” AbuKhalil said today: “When Powell testified before Congress yesterday, he misrepresented the content of the tape…. Bin Ladin is now as attuned to public opinion as Karl Rove: the previous audio was dealing with Palestine, when he knew it galvanized Arab and Muslim masses, and now, in his typical fashion, he capitalizes on Arab and Muslim rejection of the U.S. war. Most noteworthy: the language used against Saddam’s regime, and against all socialists (Bin Ladin in fact declares their infidelity, i.e. their blood is spillable), leaves no doubt that the peddled theory of alliance between Bin Ladin and Saddam is a figment of overworked U.S. propagandists. Bin Ladin however rationalized a temporary stand with ‘infidel socialists’ against U.S. aggression.”
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167