In the current ongoing Terror War, both George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden deploy certain similar figures of speech, fusing their metaphysical and political discourses whilereserving the demonology. In his speech to Congress on September 20, 2001 declaring his waragainst terrorism, Bush described the conflict as a war between freedom and fear. The comingTerror War was, he explained, a conflict between “those governed by fear” who “want to destroyour wealth and freedoms,” and those on the side of freedom. Bush insisted that “you’re eitherwith us, or you’re with the terrorists,” and laid down a series of non-negotiable demands to theTaliban while Congress wildly applauded. Bush’s popularity soared with a country cravingblood-revenge and the head of Osama bin Laden. Moreover, proclaiming what his administrationand commentators would describe as “the Bush doctrine,” Bush also asserted that hisadministration held accountable those nations who supported terrorism –- a position that couldnurture and legitimate military interventions for years to come. What was not noted was that the dominant rightwing and Bush Administration discourses, like those of bin Laden and radical Islamists, are fundamentally Manichean, positinga binary opposition between Good and Evil, Us and Them, civilization and barbarism. It isassumed by both sides that “we” are the good, and the “Other” is wicked, an assertion that Bushmade in his incessant assurance that the “evil-doers” of the “evil deeds” will be punished, andthat the “Evil One” will be brought to justice, implicitly equating bin Laden with Satan himself.

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