| Submit your comments on this article |
| Terror Networks |
| New Tape from Binny en route ... |
| 2003-10-18 |
| Arabic satellite television Al Jazeera said on Saturday al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had sent an audio message advising the United States to quit Iraq. The television has yet to broadcast the audio tape but made a text of it available to the media. As Drudge would say, developing. We should no more after it’s broadcasted. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #10 The video would have to show him holding a copy of today's New York Times with his GPS coordinates on a sheet of cardboad in front of him. Nah, just a reference to recent events, like maybe saying that Saddam's downfall is only a temporary setback and that he'll return, or something to that effect. It doesn't have to be precise. This all seems to boil down to "he's dead because he hasn't given us definite signs he's alive" -- and I'm not at all sure that's a reasonable attitude to take when pursuing a war criminal. Given bin Laden's past history, and the sudden change of behavior after the assault on Tora Bora, it's rather difficult to assume that his situation is the same as before. That means he is likely to be incapacitated in some way. (which includes death) It makes it all to easy for him to convince us to stop the search, just by not convincing us that he isn't still alive. Even if he were still alive, his organization is being methodically taken apart from underneath him, which is something that needs to be be done whether he's dead or not. Since it can't be established that the guy is still putting around on his own two feet, then might as well devote more resources to going after his underlings, no? As for me I don't know if he's dead or not. But I think that if he's dead then that's actually worse - because it means that he's tormenting us from beyond the grave, and won't stop tormenting us fora a long while. All these audio communiques prove is that someone at Al Jazeera sympathizes with bin Laden's cause, and nothing more. You may think of it as torment, but I have a rather thick skin, and these communiques strike me as Madonna-esque; someone whose time has come and gone is still trying to grab a piece of the spotlight. It means that Al Qaeda has survived his death. The confirmation of bin Laden's death wouldn't cause the immediate collapse of Al Qaida. But it's going to be hard-pressed to continue as it was without its leader. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-18 8:31:53 PM |
| #9 Aris - most Rantburgers, myself included, are of the opinion that bin Laden's ego is sufficiently large to be unable to avoid such a prolonged news blackout, approaching two years since the battle, as it were, of Tora Bora. That's the gist behind Bomb-a-rama's 'put or shut up' statement. |
| Posted by: Raj 2003-10-18 7:50:25 PM |
| #8 You say that he's dead, but do you actually have any reason to claim this other than the fact that the videos+tapes aren't unconvincing of his continued existence? This reminds me of people who claimed that Saddam must be DEAD, simply because the tapes in question weren't convincing them that he was alive. This all seems to boil down to "he's dead because he hasn't given us definite signs he's alive" -- and I'm not at all sure that's a reasonable attitude to take when pursuing a war criminal. It makes it all to easy for him to convince us to stop the search, just by not convincing us that he isn't still alive. As for me I don't know if he's dead or not. But I think that if he's dead then that's actually worse - because it means that he's tormenting us from beyond the grave, and won't stop tormenting us fora a long while. It means that Al Qaeda has survived his death. If he's alive on the other hand, then he could one day be killed, his body shown as with Saddam's boys. And perhaps a big part of Al Qaeda would disintegrate because of it. Hoping he's dead already... eh, what good does that do to anyone? It's like being glad that even killing Osama wasn't a crippling blow for Al Qaeda. Let's hope that he's alive so that when he *is* killed it *will* prove to be a crippling blow. In short, let's hope he's alive so he may yet be killed. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2003-10-18 7:10:19 PM |
| #7 Produce a genuine video where he references recent events, and that might just do the trick. The video would have to show him holding a copy of today's New York Times with his GPS coordinates on a sheet of cardboad in front of him. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-10-18 7:08:31 PM |
| #6 Arabic satellite television Al Jazeera said on Saturday al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had sent an audio message.. Sorry boys, but you'll have to do a better job of convincing people that bin Laden is actually ambulatory and up to no good. He's DEAD, and no amount of "audio messages" is going to change that. Produce a genuine video where he references recent events, and that might just do the trick. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-18 2:10:52 PM |
| #5 Oops, misread the transcript. Ignore the stuff I wrote about the US setting up 9-11. [red face] |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-10-18 1:34:49 PM |
| #4 Seems to me to be an al Q recently-squeezed effort. It's playing on the conspiracy theorists' orgasmeme (to coin a phrase) that 9-11 was organised by the US itself (maybe it should have been recorded in French and German, too). From al Jazeera (which unquestioningly attributes the voice to binny): Aljazeera has broadcast a message from Al-Qaida figurehead Usama bin Ladin advising the United States to leave Iraq, and urging Iraqis to wage holy war on the US "crusaders". In the tape, played on Saturday, the man blamed by the US for organising the September 11, 2001 attacks gave separate messages to listeners in Iraq and in the US. To the US, he issued a stark warning that his followers would carry out further actions both inside and outside the United States. "We, God willing, will continue to fight you and will continue martyrdom operations inside and outside the United States until you abandon your oppression and foolish acts," he said. To Iraqis, he encouraged resistance against the US-led forces that have ousted former leader Saddam Hussein and taken control of the war-ravaged country. He saluted groups that have carried out attacks on the occupying coalition forces, which include soldiers from Spain, Britain, Poland and Australia, as well as the United States. He also threatened others such as those Gulf states that allowed their territories to be used as a launchpad for attacks against Iraq, especially Kuwait. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-10-18 1:32:02 PM |
| #3 Special merit badge offer for bomb packing into a Soap Box Derby car. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-18 1:23:48 PM |
| #2 This is just another recording done before Binny was crushed by falling rocks. |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-10-18 1:09:22 PM |
| #1 According to the AP release, he's making an appeal to the Bin Laden Youth movement to join the jihad. I hope they wear their little armbands so we can spot them more easily. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-10-18 1:01:26 PM |