NEW BIN LADEN TAPE

Sky News ^ | 1/4/03

[areafiftyone]

Al-Jazeera television is broadcasting what is said to be a new audio tape of Osama bin Laden.

It is claimed he will refer to the capture of ex-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"The audiotape contains new things. It refers to the Geneva Initiative (an unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace plan unveiled in early December) and the capture of Saddam Hussein on December 13," al-Jazeera editor Ibrahim Hilal said.

Hilal said the voice purported to be that of bin Laden will also refer to the "(US) crusade against the Islamic world."

Early translations indicated that bin Laden called on Muslims to fight Western troops in Iraq with weapons rather than dialogue.

He also condemned Gulf states which supported the invasion of Iraq.

[Captiva]

Or it could be a canard - if cave dwellers are that smart?

[Captiva]

would he have offered up some comment about his fellow dead sand dwellers in the Iran earthquake? or are they enemies?

Indianapolis is annhilating the Broncos

[cyncooper]

The problem for the CIA and FBI is that if they say that OBL is dead and they don't have rock solid proof, they will be beat up by the media

There was no hesitation for our guys to say they thought they got Saddam in a couple bombings. Then it became clear he had gotten away after all. They would say the same if they thought they'd gotten bin Laden. They have said they think he's alive and he is, in fact alive by all accounts except for some who put their hands over their ears here and go "lalalalala I CAN'T HEAR YOU".

Your attitudes change the facts not at all, but I hope some of you have the decency to blush when we catch him.

[cyncooper]

I am one of those rare FReeper who is convinced Bin Laden is alive..

I think the majority of Freepers have the sense to realize bin Laden is alive.

There's a vocal minority that are full of swagger and bravado, but are not correct.

[cyncooper]

Oh, and notice bin Laden's hip to the dem mantra of "No WMD found in Iraq" line.

Too precious to see the dims align with Saddam (remember HIS audio tapes had democrat arguments, too) and bin Laden talking points---or is it as appears to me...Saddam (when he was still on the loose) and bin Laden get wind of what the democrats are saying and they start saying it, too.

[livius]

Could be..but I doubt it. I think the cave dwellers seriously underestimate us.

[hoosiermama]

IMO Most of them have no idea what the USA is about. It's size, strength, technology.....etc. etc. Wonder what they thought about the Spirit on Mars?

[cyncooper]

Osama , attention seeking,temper throwing, spoiled rich kid... thats all he really is...

Most children aren't leading a bunch of fanatical kooks who will die for them.

I'd take bin Laden more seriously if I were you.

That doesn't mean quake in your boots or cower in fear. But to call him no more a threat than a child completely misses the mark.

[Sonny M]

I'll never forget Arafat's reply when OBL first mentioned the Palistine situation: "STAY OUT OF IT - don't include us!" (or words to that effect)

I still remember what the leader of Hamas (or was it hezbollah?) said about Bin Laden making referances to Israel and Palestine.

"Its nice to know he still remembers us".

One of the links that is supposed to be between Saddam and Al Queda, was due to a terrorist cell the Israel's caught. They had trained under Abu Abbas in Iraq....along side another group, who claimed to be Al Queda...one of the thing the Al Queda group claimed, was not to believe in an independent Palestinian state, but a united arab country spanning the crest of Islam.

To date, Al Quada has never ever attacked a single target inside the state of Israel.

[Sonny M]

Whoever the author is, he couldn't be more wrong. If there is one constant among Muslim-dominated governments, it is stunning lack of achievement, resulting in rampant poverty, abysmal quality of live, and destructive internal/external conflicts

Well, he did point out that Spain has a better economy then all of the arab world. If your wondering about why the referance to spain...he's still holding a grudge because the moors lost it (seriously).

[Angelus Errare]

LOL, thanks for the bode of confidence, Dog.

In any case, I think that he probably is alive and is hiding in Iran (the Financial Times account has him hiding out just north of Tehran), at the very least a good chunk of al-Qaeda's remaining leadership is including Saif al-Adel and Abu Musab Zarqawi. And according that story floating around today in the UK Times, Zarqawi is also supposed to be the operations chief for any terrorist attacks that take place in Europe.

Another thing to keep in mind is that al-Qaeda generally doesn't claim responsibility for major attacks right away (the October 7, 2001 videotape, for example, contains only an allusion to the 9/11 attacks) unless there are competing groups that could steal their glory. Generally, major attacks are claimed a few months later through some kind of informal "good job, men" statements by bin Laden or al-Zawahiri a few months after they take place - for example, the most recent audiotape of al-Zawahiri praised the attempted assassination attempt on Wolfowitz in Baghdad. Why there seems to be a time gap between the actual events and these tapes is anyone's guess, my estimate would be that either the gap in of itself is some kind of signal (there have been references to al-Qaeda using an almanac, so maybe the release date of these tapes fits in with some kind of an esoteric code) or the leadership has just decided to be extra careful when releasing these and are relying on an awful lot of middlemen between wherever they are and Qatar. Al-Qaeda also has the Qatari Interior Minister on their payroll (though the emir is pro-American and has allowed us to base our forces there in order to fight Iraq), in case anybody's curious as to just how these tapes manage to always find their way to al-Jazeera without any scrutiny from the local coppers.

It also looks like we're starting to see a general trend of first Ayman and then Osama, and this pattern has been going on for quite awhile now. As others have stated, this is generally either a prelude to attacks or as a signal to up the tempo in the nature of the strikes. So I see this as being either a go signal or gloating and I'll have to get ahold of a transcript before I can say for sure, one of the things that strengthened in my mind that he's alive is in fact that his last audiotape in September cited the US deficit figures from July 2003. Unless he had some kind of a crysal ball with him pre-Tora Bora in December 2001, there'd be no way in hell for him to predict those figures, let alone that the US would be in Iraq at the time they were issued.

As to the whole "No videotape" thing, Saddam Hussein never had one either and he was churning out audiotapes left and right when he could have just as easily used a camera. Of course, Saddam had also changed his appearance, which something that bin Laden is also reputed to have done if one believes the accounts of him being in Iran.

I also think that seamole was dead-on when he noted that the references to both Sharm al-Sheikh and Beirut in the same sentence could be a subtle claim of responsibility for the recent airliner crash or maybe something to make astute observers think he caused it. The French are likely correct to demand an independent investigation (with US help, of all things) on this one - Egypt is so much of a police state with a rigidly controlled media that they could have shot the plane down without anyone saying a word about it. There was a coup attempt against Hosni Mubarak for supporting US military action against Iraq in late March 2003, but the local press dutifully covered it up and it was months before the truth behind the matter came out. So for now we should trust the official reports but stay on top of the independent investigation.

As to al-Qaeda having not attacked Israel so far, this is untrue, and I'm not just referring to Mombasa here. In 2003, two British suicide bombers staged in attack in Tel Aviv. They were members of the British al-Qaeda front organization al-Muhajiroun, which openly supports bin Laden.

[11B3]

But they have attacked Israelis - outside of Israel proper. One of the main reasons that they chose the WTC was the high concentration of Jews within NYC in general and the financial industry in particular. That also shows their misunderstanding of how things actually work inside the US.

It is their dual hate of the Jews as well as Americans that causes them to target NYC - they want the highest density of human targets available for their resources.

[LonePalm]

Actually, the 72 virgins thing is open to debate. From speaking with those who read arabic, and I don't, it's either 72 virgins, a 72-year old virgin, or 72 Virginians, they're not sure which.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[livius]

They probably put their grubby little paws over their eyes, clicked their heels and wished that they were in Kansas.

[Sonny M]

It is their dual hate of the Jews as well as Americans that causes them to target NYC - they want the highest density of human targets available for their resources.

Never the less, as much as they hate jews, they do not believe in a free and independent palestine. They want one islamic country spanning the "crest" of the world. They'll kill jews everywhere they can, just not in Israel.

[leadhead]

From what little I've seen so far, this looks like a general worldwide call to arms. Definately one of many go signals we have seen recently

Go where? Do what?

"He's dead, Jim"

"Everybody nutty enough to be a stupidcide bomber is dead too, Jim"

Mop up time in the desert. Allah don't give a s**t you loser dorks! You've lived down to his expectations.

[11B3]

Yes, they are trying to reinstate the Caliphate. They use the Jews just like the rest of the Arabs: as a way to recruit their soldiers to die for them while they run and hide, and to divert attention away from the 7th century way of life that they espouse.

To me it matters little if OBL is alive or not. Al Qaeda is alive and functional - although not at 100% strength by any means - so they are a constant threat. It is this constant threat that they desire more than actually carrying out acts of terrorism. They achieve their goals of making us change our daily routine by merely talking to each other a lot, even if it is nonsensical what they say to each other. This increased chatter is automatically interpreted by our intelligence community as preparation for an attack, so our threat level is increased. So without risking any of their assets they have achieved their goals.

[leadhead]

I wouldn't be surprised if we go to red sometime before the end of the month

Try Super Bowl (near Mexico) and the feast of Eids. (day apart)

Except...."He's f***ing dead!, Jim"

[A CA Guy]

And that was a picture from better times for them.

[Museum Twenty]

I had forgotten about that. It is a good point.

If he is still alive, he could minimize the height problem by "hiding" in a wheelchair (he may even need one). There are a lot of people in his territory - be it Iran or the Afghan/Pakistan border, who are not blessed with full mobility.

Among wheelchair users, he would still be tall, but he wouldn't stand out like he would at 6'5".