Osama not dead

[Ace Pace]

Al-Jazeera broadcasts new bin Laden tape
Neither Bush nor Kerry can protect America, he says

BREAKING NEWS
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 3:29 p.m. ET Oct. 29, 2004

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in a videotape broadcast Friday on Al-Jazeera television, claims full responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and warns Americans that “your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al-Qaida. Your security is in your own hands.”

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U.S. officials, who said the government had obtained the tape independently, told NBC News that the message was authentic. They said, however, that there was no plan to raise the terrorist threat level, currently at yellow, or “elevated,” because bin Laden makes no specific threat.

Neither the Qatar-based channel nor U.S. officials would say how they had received the tape.

In the tape, bin Laden — wearing traditional white robes, a turban and a tan cloak — reads from papers at a lectern against a plain brown background. Speaking quietly in an even voice, he tells the American people that “Bush cannot protect you.”

Bin Laden says “we decided to destroy towers in America” because “we are a free people” who wanted to “regain the freedom” of their nation. He accuses President Bush of “misleading” the American people for the three years since the Sept. 11 attacks. Most of bin Laden’s message is in regard to Bush, who faces Democrat John Kerry in next week’s presidential election.

He ridicules Bush for reacting slowly to the Sept. 11 attacks, saying: “I never thought that the supreme leader would leave 50,000 of his people in the two towers to face the terrifying events alone at the time they were in need for him.”

Analyst: Tape made recently
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rick Francona, a Middle East specialist and former military official at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, said the tape appeared to have been made very recently. He noted that bin Laden refers to Kerry and to the possibility of election problems next week in Florida.

Francona, a foreign affairs analyst for MSNBC-TV, said the tape was surprising in that it appeared to demonstrate that bin Laden was in good health. Bin Laden’s condition has been the subject of intense speculation since the United States launched massive airstrikes in Afghanistan in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The last authenticated contemporaneous video message from bin Laden appeared in December 2001, when he discussed a U.S. attack on a mosque. U.S. officials said all subsequent videos of bin Laden were believed to have been recorded earlier and broadcast much later.

The last audio message from bin Laden was on April 15, when he offered a truce to European nations if they removed their troops from the Middle East within 90 days. On Oct. 1, bin Laden’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, issued an audiotape calling on young Muslims to strike the United States and its allies.
By MSNBC.com’s Alex Johnson with NBC’s Pete Williams in Washington and Robert Windrem and Adam Ciralsky in New York. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

I really liked the "Your security is in your own hands.", might someone take a lesson from that?

[Rogue 9]

Dang it, I showed you that! Quit stealing my posts!

[fgalkin]

Now, I wonder if we can use Russia's new counter-terrorism plan to fight Osama? it involves taking Osama's family hostage and confisacting all of their property (which is quite a lot).

I'd definitely support that.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[frigidmagi]

"We are a free people, which is why we execute anyone who disagrees with us and only give the smallest group possible a say in the governece of our lands."

Given that Osama freely and willingly supported the Taliban sylte of government that is a very bold lie to spew.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Bin Laden? It can't be...

[frigidmagi]

You thought we were lucky enough for him to die from a bomb in cave? Men like him should not be considered dead until their heads are clearly and firmly planted on a pike.

[JME2]

You thought we were lucky enough for him to die from a bomb in cave? Men like him should not be considered dead until their heads are clearly and firmly planted on a pike.

Hmm, the no-body rule at work...

[Rogue 9]

Bin Laden? It can't be...

And just why not? Got his body?

[frigidmagi]

Hmm, the no-body rule at work...

You have to prove he's dead. You try it without a body.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Given the guy was supposedly on dialysis and that was when the US was in full force within Afghanistan and the fact that previous tapes were seen as pre-recorded, I have my doubts still.

He's worse than a cockroach if he isn't dead yet. Even COBRA Commander was seen by the good guys every now and then.

[Rogue 9]

Given the guy was supposedly on dialysis and that was when the US was in full force within Afghanistan and the fact that previous tapes were seen as pre-recorded, I have my doubts still.

He's worse than a cockroach if he isn't dead yet. Even COBRA Commander was seen by the good guys every now and then.

If you can see it you can hit it, and if you can hit it you can kill it. One slip up, one sighting by U.S. or allied forces, and it's over for him.

[Admiral Valdemar]

The US has the firepower, it simply doesn't have the intelligence. Osama has (supposedly) evaded capture for over 3 years so far. I don't see him slipping up too easily, especially when you have such experience and resource bases.

[Mange]

Well, I just knew deep down inside that the bastard was still alive.

[UCBooties]

Yeah, his type have a very high survival rate. It's like the more people want you dead, the more likely you are to survive shit you reasonably shouldn't.

[CJvR]

Then the chance of spitting on his grave remains...

[Mange]

CJvR, I heard on BBC Prime that he apparently said something like "that is why we didn't attack a country like Sweden". Nasty, don't you agree?

[CJvR]

I really liked the "Your security is in your own hands.", might someone take a lesson from that?

If I was Osama I would not remind the US people of that.

[CJvR]

CJvR, I heard on BBC Prime that he apparently said something like "that is why we didn't attack a country like Sweden". Nasty, don't you agree?

Not even Hitler attacked Sweden, when was the last time we offended anyone?

[Ace Pace]

I really liked the "Your security is in your own hands.", might someone take a lesson from that?

If I was Osama I would not remind the US people of that.

Why not?

[aerius]

I guess that's the "October Surprise" people keep talking about.

[Ace Pace]

I guess that's the "October Surprise" people keep talking about.

Didn't some post a few weeks ago an article saying Osama might be dead?

[JME2]

The US has the firepower, it simply doesn't have the intelligence. Osama has (supposedly) evaded capture for over 3 years so far. I don't see him slipping up too easily, especially when you have such experience and resource bases.

The $25 million bounty hasn't done jack s*** either.

[The Cleric]

Fuck. Just fuck. So typical. The Irony Gods are fucking with us yet again.

[Admiral Valdemar]

The $25 million bounty hasn't done jack s*** either.

These guys are pros. They're the inner circle of al-Qaeda, so money won't mean more to them than loyalty to the cause. Besides, you can't spend the money if you're dead.

[JME2]

The $25 million bounty hasn't done jack s*** either.

These guys are pros. They're the inner circle of al-Qaeda, so money won't mean more to them than loyalty to the cause. Besides, you can't spend the money if you're dead.

That's what I meant; if you want them to turn on Osama, you've got to up the bounty -- maybe throw in a batch of virgins while you're at it...