Twisted Sister
10-29-2004, 06:27 PM
Okay, I realize I'm opening the gates of hell by creating this thread, but I'm really curious as to what my fellow Schmoes are making of this latest Bin Laden tape. What are your thoughts? Is it threatening? Non-threatening? Will it affect the election or not? Are there hidden meanings? Should we raise the Terror Level? Are you scared? Angry? Indifferent?
REUTERS:
Bin Laden Condemns Bush, Says New Attacks Possible
37 minutes ago
By Ghaida Ghantous
DUBAI (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) burst into the U.S. election campaign on Saturday, issuing his first video tape in more than a year to deride President Bush (news - web sites) and warn of possible new Sept. 11-style attacks.
Bin Laden, making his clearest claim yet of responsibility for the Sept. 11 strikes of 2001, said Bush had failed Americans with his Middle East policies, deceiving the nation and putting it at risk from further al Qaeda strikes.
Appearing in a video released from hiding to Al Jazeera TV four days before the U.S. presidential poll and gesturing with a finger to stress points, bin Laden said the Sept. 11 attacks would not have been so severe if Bush had been alert.
"Despite entering the fourth year after Sept. 11, Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you and therefore the reasons are still there to repeat what happened (with new attacks)," he said.
It looked like a deliberate attempt to influence the U.S. election on Tuesday.
But he made little mention of Bush's Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites), saying only: "Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands and each state which does not harm our security will remain safe."
Al Qaeda sympathizers attacked trains in Madrid in March just before a Spanish general election, an act that some analysts said contributed to the defeat of the government, which had allied itself with Bush by sending troops to Iraq (news - web sites).
Bin Laden said he thought of the idea of attacking the U.S. skyscrapers when he saw Israeli aircraft bombing tower blocks in Lebanon in 1982.
"PUNISH THE UNJUST"
"As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way ... to destroy towers in America so that it can taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women," said bin Laden.
"We had agreed with the overall commander Mohammed Atta (who led the Sept 11. suicide plane hijackers), may God rest his soul, to carry out all operations in 20 minutes before Bush and his administration take notice," he said.
"This had given us three times the time needed to carry out the operations. Thanks be to God."
The Bush administration resembled "corrupt" Arab governments, he said, reading from a sheet of paper.
His voice was strong and he appeared in fair health, his full beard a mixture of white and dark gray.
Bin Laden, apparently sitting or standing at a table against a neutral brown background, wore a white head covering and white tunic under a light brown cloak.
The White House said there was no change in the U.S. terror alert level at present despite the video. A U.S. official said the video did not appear to contain a specific threat.
"There is no change in (the alert level) at this time but it's something we analyze all the time," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "We are on a heightened state of awareness already."
U.S. intelligence agencies believed that it appeared to be bin Laden on the tape, U.S. officials said.
Bush has ordered U.S. forces to get bin Laden dead or alive and American officials have said they suspect he is hiding in the border area between Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Pakistan.
An Al Jazeera editor said the Qatar-based channel had received the video tape on Friday but did not say how. He said the tape was new but did not give any details.
Saudi-born bin Laden last appeared in a video tape broadcast by Al Jazeera in September 2003, showing him and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri descending a mountainside calling for jihad and praising the Sept. 11 hijackers.
In April, Arab television stations broadcast an audio tape purportedly from bin Laden offering a three-month truce to Europeans if they withdrew troops from Muslim nations. The deadline expired with no word from bin Laden.
REUTERS:
Bin Laden Condemns Bush, Says New Attacks Possible
37 minutes ago
By Ghaida Ghantous
DUBAI (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) burst into the U.S. election campaign on Saturday, issuing his first video tape in more than a year to deride President Bush (news - web sites) and warn of possible new Sept. 11-style attacks.
Bin Laden, making his clearest claim yet of responsibility for the Sept. 11 strikes of 2001, said Bush had failed Americans with his Middle East policies, deceiving the nation and putting it at risk from further al Qaeda strikes.
Appearing in a video released from hiding to Al Jazeera TV four days before the U.S. presidential poll and gesturing with a finger to stress points, bin Laden said the Sept. 11 attacks would not have been so severe if Bush had been alert.
"Despite entering the fourth year after Sept. 11, Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you and therefore the reasons are still there to repeat what happened (with new attacks)," he said.
It looked like a deliberate attempt to influence the U.S. election on Tuesday.
But he made little mention of Bush's Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites), saying only: "Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands and each state which does not harm our security will remain safe."
Al Qaeda sympathizers attacked trains in Madrid in March just before a Spanish general election, an act that some analysts said contributed to the defeat of the government, which had allied itself with Bush by sending troops to Iraq (news - web sites).
Bin Laden said he thought of the idea of attacking the U.S. skyscrapers when he saw Israeli aircraft bombing tower blocks in Lebanon in 1982.
"PUNISH THE UNJUST"
"As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way ... to destroy towers in America so that it can taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women," said bin Laden.
"We had agreed with the overall commander Mohammed Atta (who led the Sept 11. suicide plane hijackers), may God rest his soul, to carry out all operations in 20 minutes before Bush and his administration take notice," he said.
"This had given us three times the time needed to carry out the operations. Thanks be to God."
The Bush administration resembled "corrupt" Arab governments, he said, reading from a sheet of paper.
His voice was strong and he appeared in fair health, his full beard a mixture of white and dark gray.
Bin Laden, apparently sitting or standing at a table against a neutral brown background, wore a white head covering and white tunic under a light brown cloak.
The White House said there was no change in the U.S. terror alert level at present despite the video. A U.S. official said the video did not appear to contain a specific threat.
"There is no change in (the alert level) at this time but it's something we analyze all the time," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "We are on a heightened state of awareness already."
U.S. intelligence agencies believed that it appeared to be bin Laden on the tape, U.S. officials said.
Bush has ordered U.S. forces to get bin Laden dead or alive and American officials have said they suspect he is hiding in the border area between Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Pakistan.
An Al Jazeera editor said the Qatar-based channel had received the video tape on Friday but did not say how. He said the tape was new but did not give any details.
Saudi-born bin Laden last appeared in a video tape broadcast by Al Jazeera in September 2003, showing him and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri descending a mountainside calling for jihad and praising the Sept. 11 hijackers.
In April, Arab television stations broadcast an audio tape purportedly from bin Laden offering a three-month truce to Europeans if they withdrew troops from Muslim nations. The deadline expired with no word from bin Laden.