Institutions: Governance

Bush Quotes bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri, Al-Zarqawi, Kerry

From the archive (2005): defining a community by its worst claimants — a technique then presidential, now automated. The countermeasure is self-definition.

QeRN Academy

11 Nov 2005 • 1 min read

Why this matters now (2026): A 2005 dispatch noting whom a wartime president chose to quote. The technique it documents — defining a community by its worst claimants — did not retire with that administration; it is now automated in recommendation engines. The countermeasure is unchanged: communities loud and organised enough to define themselves. See About the QeRN Archive and Building Institutions That Last.

Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, US:

George W. Bush today defended the United States military activity in Iraq and attacked his domestic critics. While his speech was almost the same that we have already analyzed on this site, some things surprised us:

In order to make a point, how weak does Bush have to be to quote bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri, Al-Zarqawi and his election opponent, Kerry.
While he quoted the Qur’an showing that Islam does not allow the killing of civilians, how is the US military justified in killing civilians to achieve its political objectives?
While he claimed that everyone was fooled by the intelligence on non-existent Iraqi WMDs, he failed to address the obvious question: who planted the fake intelligence, and who used sleight of hand to use that evidence. So his argument is: we faked it, we convinced everyone of the forgery, and since eveyone agreed, we are not at fault. Brilliant!
He said that the people of the Middle East need to determine their own course. Will he please stop supporting the tyrants in that area then? Do we hear anything? Silence.

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