Osama's ballot box phobia

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Osama bin Laden, the man who since September 11 has struck brought fear in the hearts of millions, is now running scared. The master terrorist is afraid; he is very afraid.

What frightens bin Laden today are not American B-2 super-stealth bombers capable of dropping tons of high explosives on him from unseen heights, nor the tens of thousands of troops and legions of intelligence officers looking for him since September 2001. He knows how to cope with them. What frightens bin Laden today is the ballot box.

Al Qaeda's leader seems particularly concerned over the prospects of pending elections in two Arab countries -- the Palestinian Authority and Iraq -- both scheduled this month.

In an audiotape released last Dec. 27, bin Laden makes it clear that Muslims under no circumstances should take part in these elections. Rather, they should fight the concept. He adds that "shedding the blood" of Iraqi military, security and national guardsmen "is permitted."

Al Qaeda's leader explains that participating in the elections is apostasy because the Iraqi constitution is "a 'Jahiliyya,' one made by man." And, because "the elections are ordered by America." Anyone voting in the Iraq or Palestine "commits apostasy against Allah," warns bin Laden. "Muslims must beware of these kinds of elections. They must unite around the Jihad warriors and those who resist the occupiers." It is true America is behind the Iraq elections, but in the PA?

Closer analysis of bin Laden's latest directives that aired on a number of Arab satellite television channels, and on numerous Western stations reveals something quite significant.

The hour-long tape (translated into English by the Middle East Media Research Institute) reflects a feeling that elections, and the possible germination of the early seeds of democracy, would marginalize bin Laden's philosophy purporting to place political Islam over any other form of government.

Adherents of political Islam are traditionally called Islamists. That would support the theory bin Laden believes he can reconstitute the caliphate, a united political-military-religious entity created after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. It also gives more clarity to his referring to Abu Musab Zarqawi, the man taking credit for much of the mayhem in Iraq, as the "amir" or prince of al Qaeda in Iraq. The caliphate was governed by the caliph, the ruler who governed after the Prophet's death with the help of his legitimately appointed representatives, the amirs. Zarqawi has consistently targeted Iraqi voting officials.

Lisa Anderson, a leading scholar on the Middle East and North Africa at Columbia University, points out in "Political Islam," a book edited by John Esposito, that "rejection of the West and things associated with the West" is fairly consistent behavior on the part of the Islamist movements.

Ms. Anderson quotes Saudi Arabia's King Fahd from an interview he gave to Kuwait's As-Siyassa in 1992, in which he said: "The prevailing democratic system in the world is not suitable for us in this region. We have our own Muslim faith, which is a complete system and complete religion. Elections do not fall within the sphere of the Muslim religion."