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| Terror Networks |
| ''Bin Laden'' Statement Praises Attacks |
| 2002-10-14 |
| A statement attributed to Osama bin Laden appeared on an Islamic Web site Monday, praising an attack on U.S. marines in Kuwait and what appears to have been a terrorist attack on a French tanker off Yemen earlier this month. There was no way to verify the authenticity of the statement on the Web site, which has carried articles in the past signed by senior al-Qaida figures. U.S. officials have not verified bin Laden's whereabouts this year and say a previously aired videotape of him having dinner with his associates in early November in Afghanistan was the last definitive sign he was alive. It's pretty easy to write "Abu Abdullah" or "Osama bin Laden" on a message. On the other hand, were the attacks planned and executed by al-Qaeda, whether Binny's alive or dead? The Kuwait attacks sound like wannabes — except for the call the guy got from Pakland before he went out to be a hero. The Yemen attack sounds like a repetition of the Cole, only they couldn't find a U.S. ship. I'd say it's pretty much a given. "We congratulate our Islamic community on the bold, heroic holy war that was executed by its sons of the faithful holy warriors in Yemen against a crusader oil tanker and in Kuwait against the invading and occupying American troops," read the Arabic statement. "By exploding the oil tanker in Yemen, the holy warriors hit the umbilical cord and lifeline of the crusader community, reminding the enemy of the heavy cost of blood and the gravity of losses they will pay as a price for their continued aggression on our community and looting of our wealth." Ummm... The wealth comes from selling the oil. All Arab countries that don't have oil are otherwise in the same economic category as Bin Laden has often referred to the United States as "crusaders" and to Jews as "the enemy." Such statements have appeared periodically on Islamic fundamentalist Web sites that cloak the identity of those who run them and espouse anti-Western ideology. Monday's statement was read on the pan-Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera which has aired al-Qaida videos and interviews over the last year. A recording of bin Laden's voice aired last month on Al-Jazeera was authenticated by the CIA, but U.S. officials said the recordings probably weren't made recently. I think it's pretty well established now that we're in an al-Qaeda "counteroffensive." The Yemen bombing, the Kuwait shooting, and now the Bali atrocity, show that the Bad Guys are trying to reassert themselves. I've seen one claim that the Bali bombing was organized by Mohammad Jamal Khalifa, Binny's brother-in-law, who used to head a charity and handled the financing of Abu Sayyaf. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |