Bin Laden’s audio message empowering for terrorists

Reacting to Osama bin Laden’s endorsement of the plan to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, an Obama administration official insisted that the world’s leading terrorist is “trying to continue to appear relevant.”

Here’s a reality check for U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley and anyone else who shares his opinion: Osama bin Laden is relevant — to the people who matter most to him, the terrorists.

While the press has focused on the fact that the audio message from the leader of al-Qaida was directed at President Obama, the words he spoke were designed to rally the faithful.

“From Osama to Obama” — that’s what the No.1 terrorist used for his opening — will soon become a calling card for those who view bin Laden as their moral and spiritual leader. And there are millions of them, even though he has been in hiding for years.

Indeed, every time bin Laden issues an audio message or is seen on video tape, his followers become more convinced of his invincibility.

He has eluded capture or death despite a $50 million bounty on his head, and even with all the power and might of the United States and its allies being brought to bear against him. His escaping capture has served to burnish his reputation.

Therefore, although bin Laden did not have anything to do with Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, his embrace of the plot will resonate.

“The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of a previous message sent by the heroes of Sept. 11,” bin Laden said in the audio statement aimed at the U.S.

His warning will also embolden his followers and other terrorists who are determined to cause harm to this country.

From the time former President George W. Bush let bin Laden slip through the fingers of coalition forces in Afghanistan, we have urged the United States to make his death or capture a priority.

Iraq invasion

In 2003, Bush redeployed American soldiers from Afghanistan to Iraq. The invasion of that country resulted in the ouster of Iraqi military strongman Saddam Hussein.

But, the deployment also caused the dragnet, established around the mountain caves where bin Laden was hiding in Afghanistan, to collapse.

And so, as each year passes and the world’s leading terrorist remains at large, the war on global terrorism becomes that much harder to win.

It does not matter that bin Laden is living in some remote province on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and that he has only a handful of his close associates with him. He has shown resilience that has made him a hero among Islamic extremists who share his opinion about America’s support of Israel and the presence of U.S. troops in what the top terrorist refers to as Arabia.

The reason he has survived this long is that he is getting aid and comfort from tribal chiefs who mirror his ideology and goals.

It is of little consequence, therefore, what the West thinks of bin Laden or his attempt to take credit for the plan to blow up the Northwest Airlines aircraft. His followers consider the audio message a call to arms.

The United States and its allies must be on look out for an uptick in terrorists activities. And, the Obama administration should do what former President Bush would not: Go after bin Laden with guns blazing.