;Posted on 01/11/2002 5:25:08 AM PST by Demidog
;
Mistranslated Osama bin Laden Video - the German Press Investigates
by Craig Morris
A GERMAN TV show found that the White House's translation of the "confession" video was not only inaccurate, but even "manipulative".
ON December 20, 2001, German TV channel "Das Erste" broadcast its analysis of the White House's translation of the OBL video that George Bush has called a "confession of guilt". On the show Monitor, two independent translators and an expert on oriental studies found the White House's translation not only to be inaccurate, but "manipulative".
Arabist Dr. Abdel El M. Husseini, one of the translators, states,
"I have carefully examined the Pentagon's translation. This translation is very problematic. At the most important places where it is held to prove the guilt of Bin Laden, it is not identical with the Arabic."
Whereas the White House would have us believe that OBL admits that "We calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy…", translator Dr. Murad Alami finds that:
"'In advance' is not said. The translation is wrong. At least when we look at the original Arabic, and there are no misunderstandings to allow us to read it into the original."
At another point, the White House translation reads: "We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event would take place that day." Dr. Murad Alami:
"'Previous' is never said. The subsequent statement that this event would take place on that day cannot be heard in the original Arabic version."
The White House's version also included the sentence "we asked each of them to go to America", but Alami says the original formulation is in the passive along the lines of "they were required to go". He also say that the sentence afterwards - "they didn't know anything about the operation" - cannot be understood.
Prof. Gernot Rotter, professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies at the Asia-Africa Institute at the University of Hamburg sums it up:
"The American translators who listened to the tapes and transcribed them apparently wrote a lot of things in that they wanted to hear but that cannot be heard on the tape no matter how many times you listen to it."
Meanwhile the US press has not picked up on this story at all, reporting instead that a new translation has revealed that OBL even mentions the names of some of those involved. But the item is all over the German press, from Germany's Channel One ("Das Erste" - the ones who broke the story, equivalent to NBC or the BBC) to ZDF (Channel Two) to Der Spiegel (the equivalent of Time or The Economist. More surprisingly, as I write the following site appears on Lycos in German: http://www.netzeitung.de/servlets/page?section=1109&item=172422 - but nothing under lycos.com in English.
Instead, we read in The Washington Post of Friday, December 21, 2001 (the day after the German TV show was broadcast) that a new translation done in the US
"also indicates bin Laden had even more knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon than was apparent in the original Defense Department translation.... Although the expanded version does not change the substance of what was released, it provides added details and color to what has been disclosed."
I'll say. Aren't there any reporters in the US who speak German (or Arabic, for that matter)? An article in USA Today of December 20, 2001 sheds some light on why the original translation might not be accurate: "The first translation was rushed in 12 hours, in a room in the Pentagon".
So why didn't the new US translation find the same discrepancies as the German translators did? Read the article in USA Today against the grain:
"Michael, who is originally Lebanese, translated the tape with Kassem Wahba, an Egyptian. Both men had difficulties with the Saudi dialect bin Laden and his guest use in the tape, Michael said."
Why can a Saudi translator not be found in a multicultural country like the US, especially with the close business relations between the US and Saudi Arabia? [George] Bush Sr. probably knows any number of them himself.
Of course, if we ever hear about the German analysis in the US press, the reactions will be that some will never believe that OBL is behind the attacks no matter what you tell them. But actually, Americans are just as stubborn in refusing to face facts.
One moderator on Fox News complained to his interviewee that the European media were focusing too much on civilian casualties in Afghanistan. (I wondered which European languages this moderator could speak; a few weeks later, he happened to say on his show that he had had "three years of German". This, he claimed, would allow him to "do the show in German.")
His interviewee responded that, yes, the Taliban were very savvy manipulators of the media. So there we have it: Europeans get their information straight from the Taliban Ministry of Propaganda.
Craig Morris is a translator living in Europe. The original broadcast of the German show can be viewed in German at [this link].
Related items on this website:
Article on German TV programme [in German] Let's not be hasty...
The
factpossibility that the Government may have mis-translated is troubling.Flag me if you find those translations, it would be interesting to see what Arabic-speaking Freepers have to say. Not necessarily persuasive, because they won't have listened to the tapes themselves, and one person's "garbled" may be another's "clear as a bell."
But definitely interesting.
Oh? Are they even worse than other lawyers? Are they likely more dishonest than your typical prosecuting attorney, on his route to higher office, out to win his case at any cost?
Although I suppose there is a little brilliant idiocy in the idea that these guys (supposedly with Bush's help, or at least the help of his good friends) would be smart enough to cook the books for years, but dumb enough to not pay of the auditors to look the other way. Which does bring into question just how much this was a conspiracy involving lots of members of the Bush Cabinet and how much it was just a few business leaders getting stupid.
Bin Laden named nine hijackers on tape, not one By David Ensor
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) --The original translation of the Osama bin Laden videotape misses the fact that bin Laden identifies nine of the hijackers, a Saudi dissident says and an independent translator hired by CNN confirmed Thursday.
"The translators missed a lot of things on the tape," said Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Saudi Institute, an organization that promotes human rights in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Ahmed said bin Laden identifies nine of the suspected hijackers -- not just Mohamed Atta as had the original translation.
Al-Ahmed and the independent translator -- who did not want to be identified -- said bin Laden named two additional hijackers on the tape: the brothers Nawaf al Hazmi and Salam al Hazmi.
Later, he said four other hijackers were from the Al Ghamdi tribe. He also mentioned two others, both named al Shehri.
Also left out of the translation, they said, were the names of three Saudi clerics who publicly backed the attacks, according to the man speaking with bin Laden on the tape. At least one of those three Saudi clerics was possibly a government official.
One more striking example of detail left out of the government translation, according to Al-Ahmed and the independent translator: Bin Laden's description of exactly what he said to others just before the radio announcement that the first of the attacks had succeeded.
They quoted him as saying he told followers, "When you hear a breaking news announcement on the radio, kneel immediately, and that means they have hit the World Trade Center."
Bin Laden couldn't have dunnit,
must be the CIA and MOSAD.
The problem with Mr. Spence's comment is the word "never." It is a broad generalization lacking supporting evidence. As the old saying goes, "All generalizations are false, including this one."
My response to the original posting was based on my personal experience with some defense attorneys, who very frequently don't play straight with the court or the prosecution, because to be truthful would result in their clients' going to jail. I have no doubt whatsoever that some defense attorneys are honest, so if my previous comment sounded something Spence would say, that is, an unwarranted blanket, broad-brush smear, then I apologize.
I do not believe it's true that the U.S. government never plays it straight, although Ruby Ridge, Waco, etc., clearly demonstrated that some government officials are blatant liars and that the government sometimes doesn't play straight.
And of course Bush steps forward to block the Congress from eyeballing anything that might harm Clinton's rep any further (or exact any justice for the people). And of course, Enron was possibly Bush's largest contributor in his quest for Governorship in Texas. and of course ... and of course ... and of course.
How many times are these 'in-bed-together-creeps' gonna pull the wool over your eyes and flat out lie to you before you say 'wait a danged minute, here'?
Go find the side by side photos of Osama and the taped Osama. They're on the web. Take a good look at them and then THINK, for the love of Pete!
BTW ... I am aware that there's a 't' on the end of brilliant. My fingers aren't awake yet.
This would make sense since the Bush's do alot of personal business with the Saudis.
Your bigotry is showing, Buck.
It's not logical to think that the government deliberately mistranslated the tape because it would be too easy for anyone who speaks the language to show them to be lying.
Having transcribed from audio tapes on a regular basis for over a decade, I can tell you that a transcript done in haste will have some inaccuracies. Also you have to understand that different people will hear minor things differently, no matter how much time is available to transcribe it.
This is just more nonsense from people who make money from "exposing scandals." To report a story in a sensational light is more profitable than to report that everything is just fine.
I know that 200,000 Germans held a candlelight vigil in Berlin a couple of days after the attacks in support of the U.S. Pictures were posted here on FR.
That's more than turned out here in the U.S. If you are going to suggest that Germans hate the U.S. you can pick a different fellow to foist that assertion upon.
That's got nothing to do with what I said. I said that these people who happen to be German are presumably total strangers to you, yet you take their word as Gospel. Just because 200,000 people who happen to be from the same country as they are held a candlelight vigil is irrelevant.
Again, people who sell newspapers make more money when they can imply something sensational than when they report the bland truth. Because of that, you should be careful what you believe, especially if it's coming from an unkown entity.
When you present this kind of report as fact or as "proof" of something, as you said, it reveals your agenda as anti-Bush, even to the extent of defending Osama Bin Laden.
You'll need to back up that assertion with some evidence for it to stand.
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