I still am not convinced Bin Laden is alive.
That last tape of his sounded really phony
and weird.
For example
he seemed to know details about the 'Goat Story'
that did not even appear in the US press.
It seemed to be an odd topic
to be studying
up in the mountains of Waziristan
(or wherever).
(Mark Steyn had a column about that at the time)
assuming this news is true, that an actual message was sent to Zarqawi by Bin Laden to take over US terrorist operations, it does signal the following:
Bin Laden now figures Iraq is a lost cause or why else encourage your most productive terrorist envoy to leave, [and that was in fact inherent in the last intercepted message, even Zarqawi knew that attacking Iraqis once they took over wasn't going to play well....not that he has stopped yet...because frankly Zarqawi in Iraq has done more to damage Al Queda than anything the US could have done, because more and more Muslims see Al Queda for the monsters they truly are]
it is especially odd since Bin Laden allegedly made a big production of naming Zarqawi his man in Iraq just a few months ago....
and/or that the leadership ranks are pretty thin and unproductive if the only option for Bin Laden is to take Zarqawi out of Iraq (because usually Binny likes to fight on many fronts)
The goat story, and other references, came from Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore. It was released in Iran months before, certainly elsewhere.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1187016/posts
I remember the stories from Iran and Europe about the audience. They thought they'd see something they like, but didn't. For example, Moore's racist portrayal of the "coalition of the willing" countries, and ignoring of Britain, Italy, etc.
Moore also had an appearance in a Bali bombing trial, a defendant's lawyer reading parts of one of his books to rationalize the attack. No kidding.
Oh wait, the story W was reading the kids when the Islamofacists hit the WTC?
He could be alive even if some of the tapes are fakes. Of course, a fake tape that he doesn't publicly disown would imply either that he is unable to respond for some reason or that he feels it's bait that he would be better off not to take.
For example he seemed to know details about the 'Goat Story' that did not even appear in the US press.
I recall that being in the news about that time because it was featured by Michael Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11. As I recall, it was referred to quite a bit on liberal talk shows, in letters to the editor by Kerry supporters, and that sort of thing.