Posted on 10/29/2004 5:12:30 PM PDT by focusandclarity
State Department Tried to Stop Airing of Bin Laden Tape
WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department on Friday urged the government of Qatar, which finances Al-Jazeera, not to broadcast a videotaped speech by Osama bin Laden, a senior State Department official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the State Department spoke to officials in Qatar before Al-Jazeera showed a portion of the tape. In it, the al-Qaida leader said the United States can avoid another attack if it stops threatening the security of Muslims.
The request to the Persian Gulf government, which is considered an ally in the U.S. campaign to counter terror, was passed through the U.S. embassy in Doha, Qatar's capital.
Secretary of State Colin Powell and other Bush administration officials have appeared in Al-Jazeera interviews, although the State Department has occasionally denounced the network as biased against the United States. The reason for going on these programs is to convey the U.S. message to the Arab world, the official said.
AP-ES-10-29-04 1903EDT
Warning From Dept. of Justice, bin Laden Tape and Other Terrorist Tape Could Be a Signal For Attack... from Shepard Smith on Fox News aound 7:30 PM EDT tonight.
Shepard Smith made this announcement as a voice over the live feed of President Bush and Arnold Schwartznagger doing speeches at Bush Rally about 7:30EDT.
Hasn't said anything more about it. Supposedly DoJ (Dept. of Justice) is looking into this possiblity... that was the last thing Shepard Smith said about it.
Department of Justice,Homeland Security http://www.usdoj.gov/cgi-bin/outside.cgi? http://www.dhs.gov
FOX NEWS http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137095,00.html
Transcript: Bin Laden Video Friday, October 29, 2004
The following is a translation of a speech delivered by terrorist mastermind Usama bin Laden in a new tape aired by Al-Jazeera:
We had agreed with Mohammed Atta, may Allah bless his soul, to carry out all of the operations within 20 minutes, before Bush and his administration pays attention.
And we didn't think at all that the commander in chief in the United States will leave all of these people, all of the U.S. citizens fighting for themselves, fighting for their lives.
Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked.
The event that affected me most personally was in 1982, when America gave permission for Israel to invade Lebanon. That built a strong desire in me to punish the guilty.
It never occurred to us that he, the commander in chief of the country, would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone, because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important.
When America allowed the Israelis to raid Lebanon, the 6th American Fleet helped in that. And during that difficult time many feelings went through me, which were difficult for me, but it has resulted in creating a feeling of rejection of oppression and to try to take revenge against the oppressors.
And as a result of seeing these towers, destroyed towers in Lebanon, I thought that we have to destroy towers in America, too, so that they may taste what we have tasted and would be deterred from killing our children and women.
I post on a board supported by the Baltimore Sun newspaper and of course it endorses Kerry - oh my word there are some who want vets to put their emotions aside and vote for Kerry to give this country a chance - especially now that OBL is quoting the Michael Moore movie!
As for this tape, I'm sure Al-Jazeera had to play it (despite our efforts to get them to shut OBL down). They have probably been paid well, and also threatened if they don't do AQ's bidding.
The State Department must not want Bush re-elected because I think this tape guarantees it.
So what are we supposed to think about this? Can we appease Terrorism or is this about converting the world to Islam?
BS. It's clear by his early writings that the presence of infidels on the Arabian Peninsula was his biggest gripe. He even recounted how Zawahiri had to teach him about what was happening in Palestine. Osama's ideology eventually grew to global jihad.
Why he's saying this, I don't know. Maybe it's to appeal to folks who want it all to be about Israel. Anyway, he doesn't do it well, and I suspect Jazeera, again, cut out the craziest rantings - note the interspersed reporter commentary.
BTW, didn't KSM, per the 9/11 Report, claim 9/11 was his idea in the first place? Osama takin undue credit?
that's funny, I thought the same thing earlier. Maybe it's a go to get Israel signal?
I think it was a go signal..
Didn't want to pst the above article. Don't know why the State Dept. would not want it aired (like they are hiding something). Also they warned Qatar, the country that Al Jarzeer telecasts from that our intelligence says there may be an attack on them within the next few days.
Do you remember that two days before September 11, 2001, al Qaida killed the top guy (and main opponent of the Tailiban) of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.
Does the state department really want to see Bush defeated? I thought this tape is supposed to help Bush.
....it was a plea for negotiations to end hostilities ("Americans have the power[VOTE]..." or
It was a not so subtle threat to vote for sKerry.
Perhaps their reasons for not wanting it aired are not political at all...perhaps their concern is that there is a "secret" trigger to cells in this country or elsewhere. We know that in fact, that has been done in the past. I know the election is on everyone's mine..and I don't doubt that OBL wants to affect our election. But, perhaps the governnent wants to forstall another attack. Pray that our CIA and others are listening well to the "chatter" right now.
The reason I'm concerned is that the sound bites we got to hear sound so corny and stupid. It is more than a tape it has a purpose.
His first post-9/11 video selected Israel and Iraqi sanctions as two of the three causes of 9/11. Remeber the "root causers" got excited about it. The third cause was American troops in Saudi.
Later videos were less controled, gave his worldwide agenda aguments, Zawahiri popped off about Spain even back then!
In this one he focuses on Israel, but in a weird way. He didn't keep true to form though - the full transcript mentions Afghanistan, not a lefty hang up, and his hatred for the United Nations.
Maybe govt. should show the tape to KSM, might make him mad his former boss is taking credit!
And they can't do this with CBS? or NBC? or the NYT?
Thanks for your post, seems we are the only two people who heard him say those words, and were "unnerved".
Whereas I hope nothing happens, it bothers me that not one of all the talking heads on tv, can be less matter of fact about what these two guys did which is "threaten" our national security.
Also, it might be an appeal to Arab reality - many, if not 98%, don't care about Kashmir and the greater part of Osama's laundry list of complaints.
Entirely possible.
There's no doubt, though, that bin Laden timed this for the election in an attempt to influence it. He knew when the Spanish were holding their elections, also.
I would like to hope that bin Laden was unable to effectively organize an attack on America before Tuesday, and this was the best he could do.
I'm not confident of that, though, and I think the next four days could be very dangerous. Even more so, if this was a go signal.
It's possible the State Department tried to suppress this message because they shared your concern. I have my doubts. Unfortunately, this administration is absolutely hamstrung in its ability to publicly raise the threat level because it would be politically spun against them. It doesn't matter. The threat level just went up in the minds of Americans far more than any color change could have accomplished.
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