The first video image of Osama bin Laden in nearly two years was broadcast on Al-Jazeera Wednesday, the eve of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The al-Qaida leader was shown walking through rocky terrain with his top aide, both carrying assault rifles.
| Just in case they came across any infidels, y'know... |
In an eight-minute audiotape accompanying the video footage, a speaker identified as bin Laden praises the "great damage to the enemy" on Sept. 11 and mentions five hijackers by name. On a second tape, a voice said to be that of chief deputy Ayman al-Zawahri threatens more attacks on Americans and calls on Iraqi guerrillas to "bury" U.S. troops. According to terrorism experts, such tapes reassure al-Qaida sympathizers that the terror network is still a force and its leaders still active and in seeming good health. A tape showing bin Laden would be crucial to that effort and the timing — the eve of the 9/11 anniversary — highly symbolic. The voice attributed to al-Zawahri also referred to the Sept. 11 anniversary. "On the second anniversary of the raids on New York and Washington we challenge America and its crusade, which is teetering from its wounds in Afghanistan and Iraq," the speaker says. "We tell them that we do not seek to kill, but we will chop off the hand which seeks to inflict harm on us, God willing."
| They don't seek to kill? What? They're doing it by accident? |
Bin Laden is believed to have been in the border region since December 2001, when U.S. and Afghan troops surrounded a giant cave complex in the eastern Afghan region of Tora Bora. On Dec. 10, troops intercepted a radio transmission that was believed to have come from the al-Qaida leader. U.S. warplanes blanketed the area with bombs, but the Americans relied largely on local Afghan forces on the ground.
| Big mistake there, but we didn't know better yet... |
Hundreds of al-Qaida suspects are believed to have escaped across the border into Pakistan, and bin Laden may have been among them.
A challenge? Why now? Well... April or May would not be a good time for obvious reasons. It seems that nowadays terrorist groups have PR consultants as well. I am wondering whether we will see a similar PR stunt next year, just before the election (if he manages to survive that long!!!).
| There's also the pattern of these releases being followed by a major attack somewhere in the world. Don't discount that... |
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