OBL has been dead since before Dec 13th, 2001.
That's about all the concentration needed.
Posted on 01/05/2004 7:42:27 AM PST by areafiftyone
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- A speaker who was purportedly Osama bin Laden said on an audiotape that the U.S.-led war in Iraq was the beginning of the "occupation" of Gulf states for their oil and called on Muslims to keep fighting a holy war in the Middle East. The tape is likely authentic, U.S. officials said Monday.
The voice on the audiotape, which was broadcast Sunday on the Al-Jazeera satellite channel, referred to recent events - including the Dec. 13 capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and peace initiatives between Israel and the Palestinians.
The speaker urged Muslims to "continue the jihad to check the conspiracies that are hatched against the Islamic nation."
A CIA official speaking on condition of anonymity said that a technical analysis determined that the tape was likely an authentic audio message from bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaida terror network.
On CBS's "The Early Show," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge also said that "preliminary assessments says this is the voice of Osama bin Laden."
Al-Jazeera played the audiotape while showing a still photo of bin Laden against a dark blue background.
"My message is to incite you against the conspiracies, especially those uncovered by the occupation of the crusaders in Baghdad under the pretext of weapons of mass destruction, and also the situation in (Jerusalem) under the deceptions of the road map and the Geneva initiative," the speaker said.
A Mideast peace plan dubbed the Geneva Accord was launched Dec. 1 by Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. The phrase "road map" refers to a U.S.-backed plan for a Palestinian state by 2005.
Ibrahim Hilal, Al-Jazeera's editor-in-chief, told The Associated Press the network received the message Sunday. However, he declined to reveal how it was delivered.
Hilal said he was certain the voice on the tape was bin Laden's.
"It is bin Laden's superb and special Arabic language that is very hard to emulate," Hilal said. "It is undoubtedly his voice, his style, and the typical examples from history he uses."
The original message was 47 minutes long but the network aired only 14 minutes, Hilal said.
In those excerpts, the speaker urged Muslims to "liberate the Islamic world from the military occupation of the Crusaders."
He said Gulf countries have given in to U.S. pressures "thinking that would not open the door for toppling of the dictatorial regimes by military force from outside, especially after they saw the capture of their previous comrade in treachery, a hireling of America," referring to Saddam.
The speaker criticized leaders of Muslim nations for refusing to pressure the United States on the Palestinian issue and for not supporting the Palestinian resistance.
He also criticized Gulf countries for receiving members of the U.S.-appointed interim Iraqi Governing Council.
He said the "big powers" were trying to control the region for its oil.
"The occupation of Iraq is the beginning of the full occupation of the other Gulf states. ... The Gulf is the key for control of the world in the point of view of the big powers because of the presence of the biggest deposits of oil."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Monday in London that he had no confirmation that the voice on the tape was bin Laden's but that it was a safe assumption.
"There is no question that the al-Qaida organization and its networks are still around. And so far as we know, Osama bin Laden is still alive," Straw told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Al-Jazeera last broadcast an audiotape purportedly from bin Laden in October. CIA analysts examining that tape concluded it probably was authentic.
---
OBL has been dead since before Dec 13th, 2001.
That's about all the concentration needed.
Until that time, he is, at least in the minds of his followers very much alive and that doesnt serve our purpose.
We need to prove it to all his followers he has passed on, then smear their faces into that beautiful fact before sending them with him.
Sadly if OBL is dead or alive we might not get so lucky as with saddam to find him or his remains, and the obl spirit of terrororism will live on in their dark demented minds.
I think it is time we make him say how -- and follow the trail back.
That's a pretty wild assertion: Let's see here.
2002:
11 April - A truck explodes near El Ghriba synagogue on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba, killing 14 Germans, five Tunisians and a Frenchman. Al-Qaida claims responsibility.
8 May - An assailant in a car kills himself, 11 French navy experts and three Pakistanis outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, Pakistan. A Pakistani court later finds three members of the banned Islamic group Harkat-ul Muhajideen guilty of planning the attack.
14 June - A car bomb outside the US consulate in Karachi kills at least 11 people and wounds 45. Four members of Harkat-ul Muhajideen are later found guilty.
12 Oct - Bombs explode in Kuta Beach nightclub district of Bali in Indonesia, killing 202 people and wounding hundreds. A third bomb explodes near the US consulate in Sanur near Kuta, without causing casualties. Members of the banned Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah, linked to al-Qaida, admit responsibility.
28 Nov - At least 15 people are killed in car bomb attack on hotel frequented by Israeli tourists in Kenyan port of Mombasa while two missiles miss Israeli airliner taking off from the city. Al-Qaida admits responsibility.
2003:
12 May - Suicide bombers in vehicles shoot their way into housing compounds for expatriates in Saudi capital of Riyadh. Some 35 people, including nine Americans, are killed. US Secretary of State Colin Powell blames al-Qaida.
May 16 - Bombers set off at least five explosions in Casablanca, Morocco, which hit a Spanish restaurant, a five-star hotel and a Jewish community centre, killing 45 people, including 12 bombers, and wounding about 60. Members of the Morrocan organisation the Salafist Jihad, which has indirect links to al-Qaida, are found guilty.
7 June - A suicide car bomber blows up a bus full of German peacekeepers east of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing four and wounding 31. An Afghan civilian and the bomber are also killed. German Defence Minister Peter Struck blames al-Qaida.
5 Aug - A huge bomb kills 10 people and wounds 150 when it rips through the Marriott Hotel in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The militant group Jemaah Islamiyah is blamed by Indonesian Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djalil for the blast.
19 Aug - The Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri, said to be an al-Qaida division, claim responsibility for a massive truck bomb which devastates the UN headquarters in Baghdad. Twenty two people are killed, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top UN envoy to Iraq.
15 Nov - Two car bombs explode outside synagogues in central Istanbul, killing up to 25 people. An Arabic newspaper says the Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri claim responsibility.
20 Nov - Explosions hit the HSBC bank and the British consulate in Istanbul, killing at least 27 people, according to television reports. A caller to Anatolian news agency claims responsibility on behalf of al-Qaida and a Turkish Islamist group.
I guess it's been all defeat for AQ unless your one of the hundreds of innocent people killed by them in the past two years. Certainly we have prevented dozens of such attacks in the past to years, and GWB is doing a fantastic job prosecuting the WOT but to say AQ is defeated is a stretch to say the least.
Lets be clear. Bin Laden never thought the USA would take Afghanistan as easily as we did. He never thought we would have such influence in Pakistan as we do now. He never thought we would control Iraq as we do now. Therefore these have been great defeats for him. One wouldn't sit back and just allow this without at least once in 3 years proving he is still in the fight. I totally agree that him being dead or alive hasn't been proven one way or the other.
And this is why Bush and Rummy have said. "if he's alive, we will get him".....enough said. But that does not then disallow others to suspect that Bin Laden is already dead...because of the lack of evidence he is alive and the lack of a coordinated defensive or offensive put out by Al Qeada since Dec of 2001.
As for Bin Laden changing his appearance...until one of these bad guys around the world is taken alive and shown to have a dramatic change of appearance I think that is all hollywood BS clouding peoples minds. His appearance won't have change much even if he is alive.
As for your comment that you haven't put out a video so you must be dead. (childish argument at best with that. No need to respond)
Lets also be clear that Bin Laden was happy to be on Video for weeks after Sept 11th (hell, he made home videos)...and his appearance hadn't changed at all.
He also made one other video that he released in early Nov of 2001. Again his appearance was the same (sans a perfect working right arm). It was clear, Bin Laden was showing tapes of himself being alive (while knowing full well the US Military was looking for him).
Again, I tend to believe we got him in Dec 2001. I think a Team of SOF guys got him and only a very select group in the Military know we took him out. That is just my gut instinct on this.
But as Bush as said from day one. "If he's alive, we will get him. If's he's not alive, we already got him".
And that really sums it up. Also, Al Qeada has not been productive since 2001. This is a fact. Your list of targets they have struck at (and many of those could have just been copy cat terrorists) are still not targets against America.
Only an idiot would release a videotape of himself if he had a 25 million dollar bounty on his head, and was being hunted by the world's only superpower.
"Here I am. This is what I look like now. Maybe if I pan the camera around you can see where I am at."
Duh.
Bin Laden those in Al Qeada want the world to believe is still alive
Why exactly does AQ want the "world" to believe he is alive? His followers already believe he's alive, and that's all that matters. The audiotapes aren't to prove if he's alive or not they are calls to action.
More tinfoil. Sure. Only Bush knows. Damn for a sec here I thought I was on DemonicUnderground. Their assessment of Bush being a inherantly dishonets scheming politiciain is right on target with some folks here. Shhhh. Bush KNOWS we got him but is keeping it secret for political reasons. Geesh.
There is where you are wrong. His followers do not believe with 100% certainty that he is alive. No way. There can be no doubt Bin Laden (if alive) has had to be terribly disappointed with how the Taliban and Al Qeada and Muslims within the Countries he thought supported him have fought. They have lost eaisly in every battle. Bin Laden did not expect this (at all). He believed the "press clipings" of how USA going into Afghanistan would be another defeat like it was for the Sovit Union. He truly believed this.
However, the exact opposite happened. And his followers regardless if he is alive or dead have not fought for him like he is alive commanding officer directing them into battle. So the notion that his followers aready believe he is alive is 100% false. You can see this by their lack of counter attacks just within Afghanistan itself. Not to mention other countries within the middle east.
And give me a break. Saddam didn't change his appearance by growing a beard. That does not really change one's appearance. I mean come on. Saddam wasn't showing himself in public and getting by with it...because no one recognized him with that "beard"...But more to the point, Saddam did release a video "proving" himself alive. He did exactly this!! You cannot deny that. He did put out a video with up to date information regarding the war "proving" himself alive.
Bin Laden also did this up until Dec 2001.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.