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Al Qaeda Channels Nader on Obama

By Philip Klein on 11.19.08 @ 10:43AM

Ralph Nader infamously accused Barack Obama of "talking white" and also declared that, "His choice, basically, is whether he's going to be Uncle Sam for the people of this country or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations."

Now the AP reports that Al Qaeda's number 2 has released the following message:

Ayman al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites, that Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader.

In al-Qaida's first response to Obama's victory, al-Zawahri also called the president-elect—along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza—"house negroes."

This could be interpreted several ways. In a more positive sense, it could mean that al-Zawahri is concerned that the election of a black president who speaks in concilitory tones could make it more difficult for Al Qaeda to demonize the U.S. among followers and potential recruits, and thus weaken the group's standing in the Muslim world. Alternatively, it shows that no matter who is the president, Al Qaeda will see the U.S. as the enemy and is intent on continuing its war against Americans.