An open letter to Osama bin Laden

Dear Ossie:

I hope you don't mind being called Ossie: Osama bin Laden is such a long name. Sorry if you are offended, but you have offended the fire out of me and the rest of America.

You can call me Rusty; I won't be offended.

Truthfully, Ossie, I don't understand the sort of hate that led you to brainwash men, whom I assume were your friends, to fly airplanes filled with innocent people into buildings, killing thousands more. What sort of hate drives you?

I don't hate anyone, not even you and your ilk; I hate what you stand for, but not you personally.

You say you follow your religion; me too; however, my religion doesn't call for hate nor does yours. What's the deal with you, Ossie? You and your fellow terrorists seem to me to be out of step even with your religion.

As you may already know, you misjudged Americans. You probably thought we had be-come an opulent bunch, lacking the will to defend ourselves. You thought you could take advantage of the recent disputed presidential election. You as-sumed we had a weak leader, unable to rally us in the aftermath of your treachery.

After all, David Letterman and Jay Leno were relentless with their nightly jokes about how dumb he was. They aren't doing that anymore, Ossie. President Bush's so dumb that he put together a coalition of nations who plan to get you, Ossie. Several of these nations share your religion; however, they don't share your "theology."

You probably thought you could take advantage of the nearly even split between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, which caused endless partisan wrangling. Surely this was a weakness to be exploited.

Wrong!

What you failed to recognize, Ossie, is that these Republicans and Democrats are Americans first, politicians second. When you landed that sucker punch Sept. 11, you had no idea that Americans from all walks of life would come together against you, Ossie. Once you have been "taken care of," politicians will get back to the wrangling; but first things first!

An American clich says if you know what's good for you, don't "tug on Superman's cape." In your case, Ossie, America is Superman: You have tugged on his cape! Big mistake! Not since the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor kicked off World War II has America's cape been tugged on like you did. I repeat, big mistake!

Ossie, you remind me of the leaders of the World War II Axis powers. Like you, they were tyrants who misjudged the indomitable will of Americans. Nazi Germany's Adolph Hitler, Imperial Japan's General Hideki Tojo and, to a far lesser degree, Italy's Benito Mussolini declared war on America assuming, like you, Ossie, that Americans had neither the power nor the will to defeat them. Four years later, an American-led coalition was victorious.

Hitler, hidden in a bunker below a devastated Berlin, committed suicide rather than answer to the world for his atrocities. With Japan in shambles, Tojo shot himself in the chest, but he lived to be hanged by the War Crimes Tribunal.

Italy didn't play much of a role in the war, but Mussolini was shot by his own countrymen and hanged upside down in front of a service station in Milan. Do you see a pattern developing here, Ossie? Tyrants don't seem to fare well. You are about to experience that presumption first hand.

No doubt about it, Pearl Harbor was a serious blow to the solar plexus. I'll give you credit, Ossie, you, too, landed a major blow to our solar plexus. The World War II tyrants learned firsthand about the spirit of Americans when threatened by two-bit tyrants.

You and others like you who commit wanton acts of terror against innocent citizens have been put on notice by the American president; he has vowed to put you out of business. Want an insight into how we Americans do things? As I write this, some American airplanes are bombing your camps and training sites in Afghan-istan, others are dropping food and medicine to the Afghan people. Someone like you could never understand that sort of mentality.

You have tugged on Super-man's cape, Ossie. Remember, they aren't called SMART BOMBS for nothing. Sleep with one eye open.

Take care,

Rusty