Posted on 01/19/2006 10:52:48 AM PST by Arabs only 600 years behind us
On that tape? Can you point me to one of these conflicting reports from the CIA?
I don't know why you're obsessing on this need he be alive
I certainly don't "need" him to be alive. I WANT him to be dead. The sooner the better.
Do you want our special forces to stop the hunt for him?
It just amazes me that people form an opinion (he's dead, Jim) and then won't let facts get in their way.
Do you remember the night the bombing started in Iraq and Saddam soon appeared on video after it was thought we might have got him? How many here trumpeted, "He's dead, Jim" and kept saying it every time he would appear on video? Now who do you suppose was found in that rat hole and is currently sitting in a prison cell? Sure, we wanted him to be dead. Sure, it would have been cool if we had taken him out that first night. Just like it would be cool if OBL were already dead.
Why would you want to just assume he's dead without proof? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't we assume he's alive until proven otherwise?
It's the moonbat conspiracy theorists who think he's already dead and that the tapes are phonies. They think that Bush needs him to be "alive" so he can still pose a "threat"; therefore, they think that we got him long ago, like in Tora Bora, but keep up appearances that he's alive through these tapes for propaganda appearances.
It's just odd and disconcerting to see thinking Freepers acting like some DUers who just stick their head in the sand to avoid seeing things they don't want to.
And now OBL has confirmed it. Instead of people doubting the authenticity of the tape, we should take from it what we can, and this is a HUGE admission on OBL's part. Now, if I was a moonbat conspiracy theorist, I would propose that he's really dead but Bush makes him conveniently appear at the right time to utter something that ultimately helps Bush. It certainly didn't help Kerry when OBL appeared right before the election.
Since I'm into reality and facts and that sort of thing, I will go along with the US intelligence analysts who say the tapes are authentic. Why does OBL say these things that help Bush? Because as smart as OBL is, he does NOT understand the American people. He underestimated our reaction and Bush's action after 9/11. If OBL knew that the result of his terror would be the end of AQ and the Taliban in Afghanistan, that he would be on the run the rest of his life, unable to pop his head out of a cave more than once a year, and that we'd establish democracies in Arab countries that he would have ordered the operation? I don't belive that for a moment. He miscalculated and he continues to do so. He wanted us to feel insecure with Bush as prez. He failed. Now, he wants to make an excuse for why he hasn't struck us again to make us feel insecure. Instead, all he's done is to confirm the fact that there is a war going on, and we're choosing the time and location of where that war is being fought.
What the moonbats believe is irrelevant. They also believed President Bush engineered 9/11/01 so we could steal Afghanistan's oil (for a whole year I had to point out over and over that Afghanistan doesn't have any) and then they believed he engineered 9/11 so he could invade Afghanistan in order to distract the public from his REAL goal of invading Iraq for their oil. Come to think of it, some moonbats believe he created Katrina in order to ethnically cleanse Louisiana and steal IT'S oil. And don't forget the tidal wave he created to destroy the poor Muslims in the Pacific.
What the moonbats DONT believe is that these tapes are for the purposes of giving coded messages to terrorists and recruitment of more, which is what they are. Binny isn't the only terrorist who wants to destroy the West. He wasn't the first, he won't be the last and his continued existence - or lack thereof - generates equally important pros and cons pertaining to the war on terror.
If there were some way we could use international pressure to suppress ALL Binny tapes, that would be a good thing, whether he's alive or dead. We've tried and it hasn't worked. This is not an administration which can seriously promise to Waco any news organization which prefers to aid al Qaeda by airing their tapes.
As for me, I won't go into the reason I prefer to say Binny's compost, but it IS a good one.
Speaking of moonbat theories, I forgot one: remember we supposedly were secretly holding Binny captive and W planned to trot his skinny butt in front of the camera for an October surprise guaranteed to ensure he beat Hanoi Johnny Boy? IIRC, even HILLARY mentioned that one. We didn't, he didn't....but he DID dust VVAW Boy anyway.
One more thing: you ARE talking about moonbats, not normal people. If they already believe Binny's dead and President Bush is having these tapes manufactured in order to drum up support for the war on terror, ANY Binny tape aired at any time will only strengthen that belief. Moonbats are not known for introspection and I've never heard one admit to making a huge mistake. That's another reason why what the moonbats think is irrelevant.
I agree; however, if I see a Freeper headed in that direction I will certainly call them on it. If one really believes that OBL is dead and has been for some time, surely they aren't so full of themselves to think they've got it figured out and the US intel does not. If one believes that the evidence clearly shows that OBL is dead, then one must assume that the US intel has also put the pieces together and come to same conclusion. Therefore, when a tape is aired that is purportedly of OBL, it would be a lie for the USG to say "it's authentic and recently made" if they know that to be impossible. And there is where you head down the conspiracy bunny trail. If the US knows that OBL is dead but is "keeping him alive" by "authenticiting" tapes they know to be frauds, then the question becomes one of "why" and that's where you will the find the moonbats already are.
I would bet the house that this is not the case. First of all, with all of the leaks in the intelligence community, if we really, really thought he was dead but acted like "gee, look he's alive" when tapes are releases, somebody would talk. Secondly, even if Bush could keep it secret (which he couldn't), he wouldn't. There is no strategic reason to do so, except possibly politically. Do I think Bush would perpetuate a lie that OBL is dead to win polls and elections? No. Of course, the moonbats do, which is another reason I don't subscribe to the theory.
I have NEVER intimated that the US knows Binny is dead and is perpetuating a fraud. In the one post where I mentioned it, it should have been obvious I thought I was summing up the point you were making to me in order to refute it. I SAID that when a tape is made and authenticated as Binny, THERE IS STILL NO WAY TO KNOW THE AGE OF THE VOICE RECORDED SEGMENTS ON THE TAPE, THAT BINNY'S TOAST AND AL JAZEERA IS MANUFACTURING THEM IN THEIR STUDIOS BEFORE SELLING THEM AS CONVENIENT "BREAKING" NREWS WHENEVER THE TERRORISTS NEED A MORAL BOOST...OR INSTRUCTIONS
To repeat: I DID NOT accuse the administration of any wrongdoing: I accused al Jazeera of working for al Qaeda and manufacturing these tapes. Don't put words into my keyboard.
FYI, I just heard this tape IS STILL under analysis.
You can't have it both ways. Do you really believe that you have figured out the fate of OBL but the USG has not? If yes, then I would ask on what basis? I've asked before, so I'll ask again - do you know something they don't? On the other hand, if you think they have concluded that he is dead, then they are perpetuating a lie by "authenticating" tapes. I'll ask another question again - you said you have seen conflicting CIA information on the tapes - where?
Sure, someone can splice tapes, but to make OBL say what he's said on recent tapes, including the Election eve tape, you'd have to splice in about every word at some points and add a few words of your own that OBL had probably never spoken before. I think you're giving Al Jazeera a bit too much credit.
I hope he is dead, but Occam's Razor suggests that he is alive. It doesn't take a conspiracy theory to believe that he's alive, but it does take one to believe that he's dead.
Why the voice recording?
Running out film?
I suspect bin Laden has been seriously injured or is bedridden with some disease. Voice recording can convey the message without demonstrating the weakness that would be apparent on film. IIRC, the last film of bin Laden seemed to show him with limited use of one arm.
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.