September 10, 2003
IMPOTENT RAGE FROM A CAVE:
Al-Jazeera airs video footage and audiotapes of bin Laden and his top deputy (Sam F. Ghattas, 9/10/2003, Associated Press)
The Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera aired a video of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy on Wednesday. The footage was made in late April or early May, the broadcaster said.In an accompanying audiotape, a voice said to be that of bin Laden praises the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States two years ago for causing "great damage to the enemy" and mentions five of the hijackers by name. Another voice on the tape, attributed to bin Laden top aide Ayman al-Zawahri, calls on Iraqi guerrillas to "bury" American troops in Iraq. [...]
Bin Laden was last heard from on April 7, exhorting Muslims in a tape obtained by The Associated Press to rise up against Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other governments he claimed were "agents of America." That audiotape, which CIA analysts said appeared to be authentic, made a vague reference to the Iraq conflict, although it was not specific enough to determine whether it had been recorded before or after the Iraqi war began on March 20. [...]
On Aug. 3, the Al-Arabiya satellite station aired an audiotape purportedly from al-Zawahri warning that the United States would pay dearly if it harmed detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The United States said that tape was probably authentic.
The last tape attributed to al-Qaida was aired Aug. 18 on Al-Arabiya television. The speaker, claiming to be Saudi-born militant Abdur Rahman al-Najdi, called on Muslims around the world to travel to Iraq to fight the U.S.-led occupation.
Last we checked the Taliban and Saddam had been deposed, the prisoners were still in Guantanamo, Kuwait and Arabia still had the same governments and the few hundred militants in Iraq were mostly being killed. How goes the jihad?
MORE:
In Iraq, the hand of Al Qaeda?: A suicide bomber in Arbil Tuesday killed two Iraqis and injured 6 Department of Defense personnel. (Scott Peterson, 9/10/03, The Christian Science Monitor)
Every time a bomb goes off in Iraq, an American convoy is attacked, or a coalition soldier is shot, the mystery deepens about who's behind the assaults.Posted by Orrin Judd at September 10, 2003 7:23 PMPresident Bush on Sunday declared that "Iraq is now the central front" in America's war on terror, and US officials have for weeks said that hundreds, if not thousands, of Islamic militants are pouring into Iraq.
But while a recently seized document is reported to suggest that remnants of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party are "reaching out" to Islamic radicals, analysts say that such a marriage is far from being achieved.
"In the current security situation in Iraq, you could kill 20 Americans a day, easily, and it's not happening," says a senior Western official in Baghdad, who asked not to be named.
"An unholy alliance may happen, but the Baathists are terrified," the Western official says. "If they get out of their box and create links between [Hussein powerbase] Tikrit, Basra, and Baghdad, they know they will be found out much easier."
Bad enough the guy thinks we could be losing 20 a day. That would be like Vietnam, if it kept up.
Posted by: Twn at September 10, 2003 7:58 PMOr maybe it's good -- maybe the reason they could be killing 20 a day is because the Army & Marines have determined they won't or can't and have structured security accordingly.
Posted by: Twn at September 10, 2003 8:01 PMAs long as we take 20 of them a day that would end the attacks in 50 days. If we're not willing to pay that kind of price we should just hunker down and hope for the best like the Euros.
Posted by: oj at September 10, 2003 8:32 PMIf they were capable of killing 20 GIs a day, they would.
The attacks on our men have just about ceased, which tells its own story.
The murders have not ceased. That tells an even more profound story. These people have no political program, no goals except to murder.
Thwarted of their favorite prey, they don't just go home and stop murdering. They murder other Muslims.
It will be interesting to see how long the so-called moderate Muslims of the world take to catch on. A long, long time, if past evidence is any guide.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at September 10, 2003 9:26 PMLet's see - a videotape with no sound and no evidence it wasn't made 2 years ago (i.e. no recent newspaper) accompanied by a audiotape supposedly from Bin Laden. While the media use these to say Bin Laden's alive and to slam Bush I figure it's more evidence he's not around anymore.
Posted by: AWW at September 10, 2003 10:32 PMI saw one comment on the LGF website speculating that the tape release could be linked to a signal to any al Qaida cells out there, since they reportedly have used audio and video in the past to deliver messages.
However, given the significance of 9-11 as being pretty much the last successful attack on the U.S. that has been carried out, it would be surprising if they didn't release some sort of tape, just to gloat about that success. But Osama not only looks healthier in this tape than in the last authenticated one, he also looks younger (presumably bin Laden's been sending out trusted agents to the Clinque counter at the Macy's in Kabul to get some lotions and makeup to eliminate those annoying wrinkle lines).
Unless they come up with a tape soon that actually has the guy talking and saying something pertaining to any event after December, 2001, the releases are going to turn into as big a joke as Elivs spottings were in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Posted by: John at September 10, 2003 10:42 PMPersonally, until they come out with a video that has Bin Laden seen AND heard on the same tape, and authenticated by the CIA, etc,. I will consider him to be dried protein paste on some cave wall in Tora Bora.
Posted by: Southerner at September 11, 2003 12:27 PM