RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article

The Bin Laden Video Nonsense

Sorry. If you’re looking for some breathless analysis about another lame videotape, which allegedly contains the latest ramblings of the man behind the 9-11 attacks, this ain’t it. It is meaningless bullshit. Why? Because the United States, and the Bush Administration in particular, is not serious about finding and eliminating Bin Laden.

Frankly it would not surprise me to learn that the person appearing as Bin Laden is someone else. What’s with the beard dye? Is Bin Laden buying Grecian formula for facial air? This video just does not make sense in either a strategic or tactical realm. It is simply a fuck you to the West.

Now let’s go back to why I insist the Bush Administration is not serious about finding Bin Laden.
For starters there is no one in charge of the effort. I have continued to work with U.S. military units that have the terrorism mission. I know for a fact–I’ve seen the reports and briefings–that there is not a fully coordinated, integrated, comprehensive effort to find Bin Laden. The U.S. military is doing its thing, separate from the CIA, separate from FBI, and separate from DEA. No single entity or person is in charge of the effort. And some agencies that ought to be involved–DEA in particular–are not even at the table.

Then there is the problem of failing to work and play well with others. The CIA is particularly at fault. Six years after 9-11 the CIA is still pursuing its own tangents and persists in refusing to fully share intelligence with U.S. special operations forces. And there is no one at the White House tasked with the job of forcing cooperation and focus. One would think that Fran Townsend or her deputy, Juan Zarate, would be on top of this but they are not. They are asleep at the switch. Consequently the various agencies pursue their missions without any overarching direction while staying largely in their own lanes.

What is needed is a full up interagency task force that is empowered to call on and enlist any military, intelligence, or law enforcement asset believed necessary to accomplish the mission. But that is not being done and no one is asking George Bush, “why not?”

So four days shy of Bin Laden’s masterful, visionary attack on the United States he apparently is still running around free and healthy. He has the time and comfort to dye his beard. And he’s listening to the news and reading books.

Let’s face it–Bin Laden is taking on an Elvis type persona. Maybe our best bet is for him to acquire a 40 lb. colon and pitch over dead. Someone order a gross of Krispy Kreme donuts and we will ship them to Pakistan.

Trackback URL

RSS Feed for This Post58 Comments »

Comment by Retired | 2007-09-07 22:32:49

Although this is hardly a situation calling for levity, one can’t deny the ridiculousness of Bin Laden dyeing his beard, supposedly in order to appear younger. Vanity, thy name is Takfiri!

Personally, I favored the video of a somewhat rotund al-Zharqawi not being able to clear a jam on a captured SAW, but now that “the man who put the fat in fatwah” has gone to his eternal reward of 72 doughnuts, we’ll have to be content with bin Laden until a new AQ superstar emerges.

Comment by Centrocitta | 2007-09-08 07:41:34

Actually, the eternal reward for Zarqawi would have been 72 Chocolate Chip Cookies instead of Doughnuts. Also interesting is that the rotund Zarqawi had creases down the back of his forearms. You don’t get those kind of creases until you’re at least 50. Since Zarqawi is only about 40, why did the Bush Admin. pick an old fart to do the video unless they think we were all born yesterday?

Comment by Centrocitta | 2007-09-08 07:51:43

On second thought, maybe the Bush Administration thinks JUST I was born yesterday.

 
 
 

Comment by Leslie | 2007-09-07 22:56:20

Run-up to 9/11 deja vu:
Agencies aren’t communicating, no one in charge of coordinating them, and no one in charge of tracking bin Laden.

Bet the media will be all over bin Laden’s new look. But few will ask why he’s still frigging alive to make videotapes or any of the other questions that ought to be asked.

 

Comment by Shirin | 2007-09-07 22:58:56

Frankly, I was rather surprised when they managed to kill the magical, mythical Zarqawi, but then they DID have Muqtada all groomed and waiting in the wings to be the next boogeyman.

 

Comment by Philip Henika | 2007-09-07 23:01:53

Notes:

‘…IMO, the broadcast of OBL’s message by e.g. FOX or CNN will convey the message that fear sells. I agree that it will not do as much for recruitment as it did before. But I recall OBL speaking through CNN in early October 2001 and the timing was such that a recruitment push was, IMO, the result. The plug was pulled on the Virginia Tech killer Cho after 24 hours. Why must we have to endure another message from OBL – we all know what the asshole looks like and what he is all about…’

‘..What I would like to see is a total boycott of OBL and Zawahiri messages by mainstream media (not even a snippet) along with op/eds as to why (here may be inserted the whole picture “expert” analysis). To say he is not newsworthy and that fear does not sell might help Americans with the healing process. In other words, if we cannot capture or kill him then maybe can have a say in defining his fate. I am for forcing his hand in this regard…’

‘…Well, so much for the debate:

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/09/obl_video_details_emerge.php

Is it my imagination or does OBL usually show when Bush needs him to do so - around election time or the 9/11 memorial?

Comment by Detroit Sam | 2007-09-10 02:35:12

Re: a total boycott of OBL and Zawahiri messages by mainstream media.

This will never happen because this same main stream media serve as tools for Bush/Cheney and the reich-wing republicans.

 
 

Comment by wmcq | 2007-09-07 23:17:06

Sure, OBL continues to laugh at our futile efforts, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t hit him where it hurts. I’m told he tells intimates that his one regret is that he can no longer perform as Cat Stevens.

 

Comment by Shirin | 2007-09-07 23:18:48

Philip, I think “fear sells” is the point of NOT pulling the plug on bin Laden. Certainly, keeping the populatin afraid is a big part of the Bushite modus operandi.

Funny, too, how they excoriated Al Jazeera for showing bin Laden’s tapes. Even now otherwise sensible American commentators who wouldn’t understand a word of an Al Jazeera broadcast if they ever watched one refer to the channel as a terrorist propaganda channel. Why don’t they say the same thing about CNN for showing bin Laden’s tedious, boring blahblahblah?

 

Comment by Philip Henika | 2007-09-07 23:33:29

Shirin et al.

“Fear sells” is actually a Larry Johnson quote from a private email - I just got Larry’s permission to qualify this.

 

Comment by Cee | 2007-09-07 23:33:48

I was pleased to hear that the callers to Washington Journal weren’t buying the bullshit.

 

Comment by Retired | 2007-09-07 23:34:57

I have heard that there is a video somewhere of bin Laden falling asleep in the middle of one his monologues, with his minions sitting patiently while he grabs a few winks before continuing. If I ever get my hands on that puppy, Larry, you can have it!

Comment by Shirin | 2007-09-08 00:15:32

LOOOOOL! So, he bores himself as much as he bores the rest of us!

Both the message and the delivery are great cures for insomnia.

 

Comment by Cee | 2007-09-08 10:48:56

Retired,

He’s like Cheney

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/04/21/cheney-takes-a-nap/

Pacemaker taking a break?

 
 

Comment by Waiting in Texas | 2007-09-07 23:37:28

I feel certain that the US govt knows exactly where OBL is and has for a long, long time. Imagine if we had gotten him right after the 9-11 attacks. Say, when we went into Afghanistan….then there wouldn’t have needed to be an invasion of Iraq.

One thing the Bush Adm hasn’t counted on with the American public……hindsight. The further we get away from 9-11-01, the clearer it all becomes. It was allowed to happen and everyone and everything is compartmentalized, so only a few actually really know the truth.

Comment by IntelVet | 2007-09-07 23:52:33

It was allowed to happen ….

Truer words were never spoken.

Condi was the first to alert me to this with her comment,

“….but we never thought they would fly them into buildings”

Comment by Cee | 2007-09-08 11:00:55

Vet,

I was also alerted when she nervously responded to a question about Pakistan general Mahmoud Ahmed. I was stunned by the question and went in seach of the transcript. His name was redacted. I see why.

ISI Director Said to Become Fundamentalist Muslim

ISI Director Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed visits Washington for the second time. On September 10, a Pakistani newspaper reports on his trip so far. It says his visit has “triggered speculation about the agenda of his mysterious meetings at the Pentagon and National Security Council” as well as meetings with CIA Director Tenet (see September 9, 2001), unspecified officials at the White House and the Pentagon, and his “most important meeting” with Marc Grossman, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&the_isi:_a_more_detailed_look=mahmoodahmed

 
 

Comment by lilybelle | 2007-09-08 21:22:25

Waiting in Texas: I believe you have it exactly right. The so-called pursuit in Afghanistan was always suspiciously sloppy. If OBL had been captured at that time Bush would have had less of a “slam dunk” excuse to invade Iraq. Of course, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have done it anyways.
lilybelle

 
 

Comment by Waiting in Texas | 2007-09-07 23:44:10

and furthermore, this subject really pisses me off to no end. How can a 6′4 Arab in need of daily dialysis escape the justice of the US? OBL can sit around and make video tapes, groom his beard and get the medical attention he needs and we can’t find the motherf*cker??!!!

Puh-leeeessssssse! Enough already. I’m beginning to wonder if he is behind the attacks and if he was, with all the compartmentalization, it was allowed to happen.

And no, I’m not one of those conspiracy theorists! The whole OBL thing just stinks to high heaven.

 

Comment by Artsy | 2007-09-08 00:53:45

You all better stop saying “i’m not one of those conspiracy theorists”
especially since the repeat offenders have gamed your good-natured unwillingness to question the Big Lies.

please get informed as to how the official story is a lie: http://www.911truth.org

before they hit us again.

 

Comment by wethornet | 2007-09-08 01:10:37

o/t

“JUST ANOTHER DAY IN POST-CONSTITUTIONAL AMERICA.”

Tina Richards, whose son Cloy, a Marine, was deployed twice, and who has serious health issues because of his duties, was arrested the other day. She was at a press conference in Washington, DC. The Washington DC Police Departments Mounted Horse Patrol acted like a bunch of thugs; they even charged the 20 journalists.

She spent about a day in jail.

I spoke with her a little while ago; she is at the hospital getting injuries to her head, and I think it’s her neck and arm checked out.

Evidently, a 40+ year mother of a wounded Marine is a “menace to society,” and a “clear and present danger.”

This was all, imj, an effort by the authorities, to set the tone for the upcoming march and protest on 15 Sept. and the activities the week after.

I hope Tina brings a lawsuit against them. I hope this results in massive negative publicity. I hope people of good will on the blogosphere will raise holy h*ll.

I am out of pocket in a few minutes until Monday.


Mounted police charged in to break up an outdoor press conference and demonstration against the Iraq war in Washington on Thursday, arresting three people, organizers and an AFP reporter said.

“The police suppressed the press conference. In the middle of the speeches, they grabbed the podium” erected in a park in front of the White House for the small gathering, Brian Becker, national organizer of the ANSWER anti-war coalition, told AFP.

“Then, mounted police charged the media present to disperse them,” Becker said.

The charge caused a peaceful crowd of some 20 journalists and four or five protestors to scatter in terror, an AFP correspondent at the event in Lafayette Square said. No one appeared to have been hurt.

Three people — Tina Richards, the mother of a marine who did two tours of duty in Iraq; Adam Kokesh, a leader of the Iraq Veterans Against the War group; and lawyer Ian Thompson, who is an organizer for ANSWER in Los Angeles — were arrested, Becker said.

Democracy: use it or lose it.

 

Comment by RAN | 2007-09-08 01:21:03

It’s been many months since I posted here under a different name, but I’m back because this is one of the best blogs on the Web.

The no bullshit approach to the bullshit Bin Laden monster is refreshing.

I haven’t seen the video, nor am I interested in seeing it. Bin Laden and the neo-cons seem to have a lot in common. Mentally picture each of them in separate stalls, tapping their feet. I think they’re that close, and I don’t think one of them is an uncover cop.

I’m so weary of the lies, the deceit, the murders and killings, the propaganda, and the fear cards. Each time Bin Laden is dragged out from whatever stall he occupies, I just roll my eyes. The proverbial political man-sex he and the Bushies engage in is getting old.

 

Comment by Delia | 2007-09-08 01:23:44

Well, remember about the first thing the Bush Administration did after the Towers were hit on 9/11 was to spirit all those bin Laden family members out of the country. Bush’s whole behavior concerning OBL has smacked of embarrassment since the beginning, like one of the family dogs on the ranch had killed a child and he knew that he had to act outraged and declare that the dog had to be captured and put down, but then he launched a raid to get the dog that somehow let the animal slip away. It’s like he doesn’t really want the dog caught but he has to pretend that he does, and sometimes it’s useful to scare people with the threat of rabid dog hanging around the neighborhood.

 

Comment by SusanUnPC | 2007-09-08 01:25:06

Semi-OT, but it irritates the hell out of me:

I wish I could send Chris Matthews a copy of Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower.

Today Matthews repeated the false myths I’ve heard him state before — that bin Laden is 6′4″ and on dialysis, saying that those two facts should make bin Laden very easy to find. Lawrence Wright proved all that false through numerous interviews with longtime friends and associates of bin Laden’s.

 

Comment by PrchrLady | 2007-09-08 01:52:03

Susan, I did not know that the health issues re:OBL were untrue. I note others here referred to his need for dialysis… I am in agreement, and believe this is just more prpganda that our tax dollars is paying for. The neocons would not dream of paying for anything like this from their own coffers, now would they???

the timing of this whole thing just stinks… and I smell rover in this someplace too. reading on other threads it is like we are being given little parts and pieces of the whole thing. Lots of dots to be connected, and we had better hope it is done soon. Those Octbr srprises are usually stingers. And then the harsh cold winds of winter start… at least here in Michigan…

Comment by SusanUnPC | 2007-09-08 02:06:25

I just glanced through the index and book — mostly, it seems bin Laden suffers from low blood pressure which has made him faint and feel very weak and tired. He carried salt with him and al-Zawahiri would give him glucose. Associates say he did not have diabetes or require dialysis.

 
 

Comment by cali | 2007-09-08 02:05:34

Bin Laden Releases Video as C.I.A. Issues Warning

Details of the video emerged yesterday, the same day that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency gave a public warning about Al Qaeda’s gathering strength and unapologetically defended his agency’s campaign to kill and capture the group’s operatives worldwide.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/world/08hayden.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Comment by Blunt Force Trauma | 2007-09-09 18:35:13

Cali, ask yourself how many times are the presstitutes are going to (and have) recycle(d) the ‘Al Qaeda is gaining strength’ thing? All this garbage is regurgitated ad nausem to keep the public scared and believing in the ‘boogey man’.

The only thing gaining strength is the repetition of the lamestream media’s lies which are usually planted stories via the White House.

A couple examples are below and you can find your own by simple research. I have found that same headline and story going back 3 years.

A story from July, ‘07:

http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=071107_al-qaeda_as_strong_before_9-11.htm

A New York Times story from February, ‘07:

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/02/ny_times_alqaeda_gaining_stren.php

 
 

Comment by Montag | 2007-09-08 02:20:29

Bin Laden is Bush’s Emmanuel Goldstein. George Orwell brilliantly exposed the doublethink behind such “threats” in “1984.” Every day the Party would hold a “Two Minutes Hate” in which Emmanuel Goldstein, the foil for Big Brother, was excoriated, just to remind everyone of why they needed Big Brother in the first place. And of course behind Goldstein was always the enemy of the day, either Eurasia or Eastasia–it kept changing. As Orwell put it, it was FUNNY how the Party could never seem to quite catch the guy, or despite constantly arresting and liquidating his followers, how they never seemed to diminish in number.

But then Bush admitted this only six months after 9/11, when he said that he wasn’t concerned with Bin Laden any longer! Talk about sour grapes. Can you imagine FDR saying that about Hitler? “Yeah, well, we could fight the war to total victory, but I figure it’s just not worth it. Hey, the guy’s certainly learned his lesson, hasn’t he?”

Comment by Donovan Fraser | 2007-09-08 02:58:09

I couldn’t agree more. another boogie man moment. OBL doesn’t look well enough to stomach a cheeseburger let along have any power of fear over Americans.

 
 

Comment by Mike Zimmer | 2007-09-08 02:34:31

Try this on for size:

FOXNews.com - Report: Bin Laden Already Dead - U.S. & World
Wednesday, December 26, 2001

Usama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41576,00.html

This was not the only report at the time. It may have been disinformation, I am not in a position to tell. In any case, there is lots of evidence, according to sources I tend to believe, that Bin Laden was a CIA asset. He may well still be a CIA asset. There are reports of him meeting with the CIA in the “American Hospital” in Dubhai just prior to September 11, 2001. For instance, see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,584444,00.html

 

Comment by Teaeopy | 2007-09-08 04:15:11

Imagine being in close proximity to Zawahiri or Osama bin Laden and deciding to turn him in, for principle or for profit. Whom would you contact?

The changing political situation in Pakistan might offer some rare opportunities to gather intelligence and cultivate assets, but who is in in place to optimally use the opportunities?

Yes, there is an urgent need for an interagency task force, one with clear protocols and a viable chain of command.

 

Comment by Blunt Force Trauma | 2007-09-08 12:44:00

I have to agree with Waiting In Texas. Along with all of the other fearmongering, how is this any different?

The long list of (exposed) lies that have reared their ugly heads and the continuance of those lies, leads me to believe, most of the time, that this OBL character is just that. One in a long line of patsies to keep us all believeing that someone else was responsible for all that we’re witnessing to this day; including the demise of the Constitution.

If it were a “terrorist group” that “staged” 9/11, why is there a constant war on for your mind and freedoms? What did you do? Probably as much as Iraq or Afghanistan and their citizens. Nothing.

Oh, speaking of lies. I visit Pilots for 9/11 truth every so often, and they have the NORAD tapes in their forums section. Apparently, flight 93 went boom NW of Camp David. So, that hole in the ground in Shanksville should just have a port-a-pottie placed over it and everyone should have a go seeing as that is what this whole “terrorist” thing seems to be full of, IMO.

 

Comment by liberalbuffet | 2007-09-08 13:30:23

IM telling you people (in a sittin in a barber shop,just talkin kinda way:) that Prince Bandar(Bandar Bush,as they called him by his friends in the USA) just might have helped Bush set up 9/11.
Most of the highjackers were SAUDIES. All he had to do was find a handfull of nut case Saudies to do the job, then Bush and Cheney would have their boogy man to use on the American people to justify their fu-ked war.

Bush wont catch Bin Laden because he needs him like a fish needs water, OR THEY HAVE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL. The Royal Saudies have this shit all over their hands. And Bush wont be able to keep them out of this mess much longer. And lets not forget BALCKWATER!

 

Comment by oldtree | 2007-09-08 14:49:55

They can’t punish him until he no longer holds the cards. He knows too much about their involvement with his actions. funny game, the future of humanity

 

Comment by hoosierhoops | 2007-09-08 15:06:39

and furthermore, this subject really pisses me off to no end. How can a 6′4 Arab in need of daily dialysis escape the justice of the US? OBL can sit around and make video tapes, groom his beard and get the medical attention he needs and we can’t find the motherf*cker??!!!

Texas: I couldn’t have said it better…We just gave up on him and started another war..

 

Comment by luminaria | 2007-09-08 15:15:17

Glad to find your blog. This blatant incompetance where no one in the administration talks to anyone else makes perfect sense, given that authoritarians don’t play well together. As far as Bin Laden is concerned, I can think of only two possibilities (I’m sure there are more), which are that 1) he died a long time ago from kidney failure; or 2) he’s in full communication with Bush and they’re milking the fear factor they’ve created for all it’s worth. I haven’t seen the video, but from what I’ve heard it has Bin Laden spouting Marxist propaganda (!), which may be what whomever created the video (a bushbot?) think he might say.

 

Comment by Philip Henika | 2007-09-08 15:41:40

It sickens me - we have the chance to progress towards healing America by memorializing 9/11 victims and telling stories of courage and yet all that the mainstream media headlines is OBL and Bush propaganda.

There are two media sources that I check on a regular basis - McClathcy and Radio Free Europe. McClatchy covered the OBL tape (William Strobel)but did not headline it and RFE has not covered it at all. So, perhaps some progress has been made - I don’t know.

Finally, I have a black lab (Basil) who did not make it as a guide dog because of allergies. She reminds me of the guide dog who successfully brought a man down 82 flights of stairs on 9/11. I don’t know about you folks, but I put these memories upfront around this time along with questions about what really happened on 9/11.

“Ask questions” - Albert Einstein.

 

Comment by katymine | 2007-09-08 15:54:09

I have a few questions, have not seen the video but from comments from others who have…

1. OBL is wearing a gold wedding ring but a Muslim person said that is inconsistent with their faith, is that true?
2. Why was the tape released to the US vs some other middle east outlet?
3. Why can’t they trace back the path of the tape when it is handed off to US authorities?

Inquiring minds want to know….

 

Comment by Philip Henika | 2007-09-08 16:46:08

I no longer think that it is a coincidence that OBL shows when Bush is peaking out on partisan politicing e.g. Friday before the Presidential election and now before the 9/11 memorial (adds to the validity of katymine’s questions about the tape hand-off)

I no longer think that it can be denied that OBL messages are incongruous i.e. OBL’s religious statements in the 90’s dealt with an obsession re: the protection of the Holy Sites whereas OBL has has been replaced by this PR-savvy, geopolitical spectre.

Agree?

Disagree?

 

Comment by Diane | 2007-09-08 18:22:59

Bush is no dummy(?).
He is going to have to work for a living soon and does not want to piss off the Saudi’s who have been so good and nice to his family and all his rich friends.
Who else will bail him out of any other failed business adventures??

Who in their right mind voted for this guy after all his failed business attemptS?
And why did they think those experiences would make him a good president???????

 

Comment by Rick Blaine | 2007-09-08 19:42:26

If OBL stays true to his MO we probably will see him go public several times in the next 500 days.It seems like every time the president and his lackeys start to get beaten up by the facts, or the plan is about go off the railroad tracks we get a new video! I now wonder which new crisis in the next year will give us the latest public press release from this man.

 

Comment by Sara Williamson | 2007-09-08 21:04:18

I’m a lurker but just had a question. I think I remember that after 9/11, bin Laden denied several times that he had anything to do with the twin towers bombings. Am I dreaming this or did he actually deny it? Could that be true and could it explain why Bush doesn’t really want to “get” him “dead or alive”?

I also agree that he is used very conveniently, every time Bush wants to instill fear. Although it isn’t working so well with most of us lately.

By the way, this is one site I visit every day and not only like it but learn a heck of a lot from it. Thanks Larry and all who post here.

 

Comment by Philip Henika | 2007-09-08 22:56:25

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/090ttmhr.asp

Bin Laden Unplugged
Analyzing the latest video.
by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
09/08/2007 2:14:00 PM

“…OSAMA BIN LADEN’S STRENGTH as an orator has always been his ethos. He is an eloquent and seemingly honest speaker, proud of his role in the attacks of 9/11, a principled spokesman for radical Islam’s war against the West. Though bin Laden may not have penned all his words personally, the force of his ideas always shines through. As Bruce Lawrence notes in Messages to the World, “these messages are not ghostwritten tracts of the kind supplied by professional speechwriters to many politicians in the West, whether American Presidents, European Prime Ministers, or their Middle-Eastern counterparts.”

In bin Laden’s last video–released on October 29, 2004, on the eve of America’s presidential election–bin Laden mocked President Bush: “Free men do not forfeit their security, contrary to Bush’s claim that we hate freedom. If so, then let him explain to us why we don’t strike–for example–Sweden?” But even while skewering President Bush for his simplistic framing of the conflict, bin Laden has been hesitant to explain the roots of the struggle to a Western audience. (His rhetoric differs when the target audience is Western rather than Muslim.) The closest he has come was the October 2004 video, where bin Laden outlined his grievances at length and urged his audience to look for 9/11’s “causes in order to prevent it from happening again.”

This vagueness has led some commentators to conclude that bin Laden is fundamentally a political terrorist rather than a religious one. The sociologist Michael Mann wrote, “There is a simple reason why he attacked the United States: American imperialism. As long as America seeks to control the Middle East, he and people like him will be its enemy.” Doug Bandow of the American Conservative Defense Alliance–after quoting bin Laden’s quip about Sweden–declared that al-Qaeda’s attacks are “in pursuit of specific geopolitical objectives. The evidence is overwhelming that they attack Americans because they believe Americans are at war with them…”

 

Comment by Delia | 2007-09-08 23:05:47

Do we even know that this is the real bin Laden and not a double?

Comment by shargash | 2007-09-11 19:50:43

Based on the pictures I’ve seen, it is NOT the real bin Laden. The biggest clues are in the hair & beard. The fake bin Laden’s beard is very full on the apples of the cheek. The real OBL’s thinned out before stopping entirely. As you get older, your beard does not get fuller. Also, if you look at the hair around the temples, the fake OBL’s hair descends at right angles to the brow, while the real OBL’s hair angles back towards the ear. Again, your hair does not get fuller as you get older.

The only remotely plausible explanations that I can think of are:

1. The beard is fake, but the OBL is real. OBL had some disease that caused his hair to fall out (maybe he’s undergoing chemo). Facial hair in men is an Islamic religious observance, so maybe OBL put on a fake beard (and fake temple hair) so as not to allow his appearance to detract from his message. In any case, that is not just a dye job.

2. The beard is real, but the OBL is fake.

Supporting #2 is that the nose doesn’t look right, bulbous rather than aquiline (but maybe OBL broke his nose somewhere along the way). Also the talking points he uses are more like what a wingnut blogger would put in OBL’s mouth than what a Salafi radical would say.

Tentative conclusion: the video was fabricated by amateurish neocon elements, perhaps related to the same ones that fabricated the yellowcake memo (Michael Ledeen was in on that one). The US government knows it is fake, but is telling everyone it is probably real because they like the message it delivers. Most likely, elements of the US government were active parties to the forgery.

 
 

Comment by PrchrLady | 2007-09-08 23:16:06

Great comments everyone~ I too have great doubts about the authenticity of this video, as well as it’s timing. I won’t watch it personally. But as I read all the comments here, I keep thinking about the Saudi connection in this whole thing… from pre 911 right up until today. If we follow the money, and connect the dots, somehow bushie boy and OBL might even be working together. They share some common friends, and those friends have gone under the radar of the MSM.

The Sauds, if there is war in Iraq and Iran, stand to have much power to be gained if the US takes on the entire ME… what is left of the region will be up for grabs, and the US will not benefit. Except perhaps a few of Saudis ’special friends’. A terrible ugly thought, but bushco and his neocon friends are so capable of anything, I would not put it past them any longer.

Comment by Waiting in Texas | 2007-09-09 01:32:48

PrchrLady - The one thing that stands out in my mind and I had a personal email chat with Larry about this some time back - the one thing I can never get out of my mind was reading the book about John O’Neill and all of the obstacles that he faced in trying to capture Bin Laden to prevent a 9-11 from happening. It all goes back to my previous comment today about how everyone and everything is so compartmentalized and that is IMO what was happening to John O’Neill.

PS. I saw someone post this comment a while back and I would like to reiterate this point: When the next President is elected and I feel certain it will be a Dem this time around, I hope he or she makes Valerie Plame head of the CIA. God Almighty, the dirty little neo-cons and a few others would be jumping out of windows.

Vengeance is mine saith the Lord, but I want a front row seat! Have a great weekend everyone!

Comment by Waiting in Texas | 2007-09-09 14:00:13

After watching CBS’s Sunday Morning, Lawrence Wright was interviewed and he is the author of the Looming Towers - haven’t read that book, but ordering on Amazon as soon as I get done here. The book I read about John O’Neill was by Murray Weiss, which PBS also aired a special on Weiss’s book and O’Neill.

I stand corrected that Bin Laden was 6′4 and needed daily dialysis. I read that he did need dialysis when he had Hepatitis C.

However, I still believe that our government knows right where OBL is and always has. But, there has just never been an appropriate time to roll him out - too much time has gone by and I think most people would see right through it. My the Bush Adm has gotten themselves into such a pickle over that one!

 
 
 

Comment by Fred C. Dobbs | 2007-09-09 02:28:47

>>> Someone order a gross of Krispy Kreme donuts and we will ship them to Pakistan.

By the time each and every US company involved in the shipping, handling and customs brokerage and each tin-pot government functionary in Pakistan gets done taking “a dash” out of your gross of doughnuts, all Osama would be getting is two pounds of very stale crumbs and six tablespoons of sugar in a mangled box.

 

Pingback by Osama Bin Laden in G. W. Bush | Milan’che | 2007-09-09 14:13:13

[...] P.S.: Zanimiv zapis na to temo -> No Quarter - The Bin Laden Video Nonsense. [...]

 

Comment by Todd | 2007-09-10 01:28:06

Bin Laden and Bush are two sides of the same coin. As Dr. Evil said so memorably to Mini Me in one of the Austin Powers movies, you complete me.

 

Comment by Jerome | 2007-09-10 23:59:32

Larry, years ago I said Bush was using a live Osama as a fear ticket to get what he wanted. This is Still the case.

How do you have a fifty year war on terror if you kill all the leaders right off the bat.

Ain’t that right, Yasser.

 

Pingback by People First Politics » Blog Archive » 6 Years Later: Osama bin Laden is still free. | 2007-09-11 14:35:18

[...] Johnson agrees with my take, though he beat me to the analysis this time. On his blog he calls it The Bin Laden Video Nonsense and complains about this bin Laden’s dyed beard - Grecian Formula for facial [...]

 

Comment by Jerome | 2007-09-11 15:09:49

right wing fashion police. Be all you can be.

 

Comment by Centrocitta | 2007-09-11 15:14:42

It looks like Bin Laden is the REAL bluefilm_king

 

Trackback by gioco poker online gratis | 2008-06-30 09:59:59

mindest einsatz

E” free mp3 ringtones editor jeux virtuels casino blackjack game internet kasino casino depot gratuites

 

Trackback by texas holdem probabilits | 2008-07-09 14:30:20

texas holdem probabilits

Comenzar con poker card game juego casinos poker internet gratis hold em poker juegos polly poker

 

RSS Feed for This PostPost a Comment

Name (required)
E-mail (required - never shown publicly)
URI
Your Comment (smaller size | larger size)