Thursday, January 19, 2006

Decoding the latest "bin Laden" tape



Ah, yes, another low-quality tape from bin Laden's secret cave complex.

Pardon my skepticism.

Why is it that every message from the man works to confirm Bush's talking points, I wonder?

For instance:

The war against America and its allies will not be confined to Iraq. Iraq has become a magnet for attracting and training talented fighters.

What "OBL" is saying is that Al Qaeda is the major enemy fighting the U.S. in Iraq. While it is true that there are elements of Al Qaeda in Iraq, the purported statement subtly refutes the fact that most of the fighters in Iraq are insurgents fighting the occupation of their country. "OBL" therefore reinforces Bush's continous equating of Iraqi insurgents and Al Qaeda.

Another interesting statement:

But I plan to speak about the repeated errors your President Bush has committed in comments on the results of your polls that show an overwhelming majority of you want the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. But he (Bush) has opposed this wish and said that withdrawing troops sends the wrong message to opponents, that it is better to fight them (bin Laden's followers) on their land than their fighting us (Americans) on our land.

and:

Your president is misinterpreting public opinion polls which show that the vast majority of you support the withdrawal of your forces from Iraq. If your desire for peace, stability and reconciliation was true, here we have given you the answer to your call."

Bush's mantra of late has been that supporters of withdrawal are aiding the enemy, and that opposition to the war plays into the hands of terrorists. How convenient that this tape will now be used to support that absurd notion. I can already hear wingnut radio hosts -- "Didn't you hear what bin Laden said? You pinko peaceniks are playing right into his hands!"

Anyone who opposes the war is doing bin Laden's bidding.

It's too fucking convenient. And, with all the scandals and legal problems the Bush Cult is dealing with, a good dose of fear about an impending attack is just what they need. Remember -- they rule by cultivating fear.

4 Comments:

Blogger _H_ said...

Excellent article. I find it worrying how many in the media outlets are taking this as genuine.
I posted something similar myself here

5:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Credible engineering reasoning from available evidence (contrary to standard crime scene practice, the steel was spirited away and sold outside the country) and reports of trained rescue specialists (like firemen and policemen who heard bomb popping sounds as in a demolition) have made the case that the WTC towers may have been demolition-bombed and that the circumstances that would have allowed the placement of the hypothesized bombs point to domestic terrorists. This argument states that the plane attacks and fuel explosion amount and temperature were not sufficient to have caused the WTC phenomena plus there were strange behaviors of our officials in regard to the No. 7 building. If there were bombs, what was in those bombs? Many rescue workers developed serious health problems after working at the WTC site--and several have died as a result. Powdered substances in the buildings were toxins, it is true, but the way the towers came down did strike me as very like an internal demolition trajectory and other explanations given to the public do not jive with my construction experience.

It is known that Bush had wished for another Pearl Harbor to galvanize the public--and wrote in this tenor in his daybook after the WTC disaster for all to see his heroic mindset. He got carte blanche for the Patriot Act and touted his War Presidency after 9/11, although it is now known that Bush had been engaging in domestic spying well before 9/11.

Osama's line of reasoning did not seem true to early tapes more likely to have been his. This tape has an American feel to its thinking patterns and in the way the American people are appealed to--reminds me of the way Rove gets the results he wants by feeding to the opposition what it wants to believe, as well as the docile, vetted "base."

It seemed odd for Osama to be recommending that book, which has enjoyed quite a surge in sales. What other books are we NOT reading because we are reading the one the tape recommended? Would those other books alert us more accurately to what is going on behind the scenes now?

Or is the reading public being directed to this book because--not that the author wrote it to support BushCo--there are some ideas that would rebound to the neocons' benefit if anti-Bush readers adopted certain interpretations or scenarios, or the book's mindset?

Are citizens being distracted by this so-called Osama tape while the U.S. and Israel prepare for an imminent attack on Iran? [Word has been out that the Israelis are planning a spring raid; others think March--probably disinformation, all of it. The attack will likely predate expectations.]

One must assume that, at a lower level, Homeland Security agents are keeping track of who buys the book Osama recommended (or takes it out from the library). By making it "dangerous" to take books out from the library, as well as budget cuts, the administration can gradually effect the demise of an institution that allows every user free access to ideas, history, and alternative remedies for social problems that a CEO-dictator type might not like his slaves or direct reports to know about. NOTE: People may want to switch to cash right now when buying certain titles from bookstores. Eventually cash may go because it is harder to track purchases made with cash.

9:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

January 21, 2006
http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/06/01/ana06005.html
Wag the Osama

Hi again, Professor Pan, I discovered in surfing that you have considerable company in your suspicion of the content and timing of the purported Osama tape:


"Isn't it a mighty big coincidence that Osama returns for a bizarre appearance just as Bush is on the ropes for illegal spying on Americans -- and as Karl Rove announces that he is going to use fear again to maintain one-party dictatorial control over America in the fall elections?"
(snip)
And, although memory in a time of 6-hour news cycles is fleeting, it might be worth a little jog of the brain to remember that an alleged Osama tape showed up the Friday before the 2004 presidential election, widely credited with helping George W. Bush gain votes based on the subconscious "fear factor."

Such coincidences have a way of continuing to occur at vitally important moments for the Bush Administration, don't they?

Either Osama wants Bush to stay in power -- and, therefore, Bush is the real choice of the terrorists --
Osama is working in cahoots with the Bush Administration in a sort of a wink and a nod 'understanding between enemies' sort of way, or the video was fabricated.

"It's one of the three, folks,
because Osama is not dumb -- and he knows that the release of any video or audiotape at such times only strengthens Bush's hand to clamp down on freedom and the Constitution domestically (a goal of Al Qaeda according to Bush himself), strengthen the consolidation of Imperial presidential powers, and continue the war in Iraq and the torturing and killing of anyone Bush's crew considers a 'non-combatant threat.'

"And this videotape will be used by the Busheviks to try and bolster their right to illegally wiretap Americans -- and then use that precedent to further break the law and violate the Constitution.

"So why would Osama release videos and tape recordings only at moments that help Bush when he is in political need?

"Ah, now you understand."

(The boldface emphases above were added.) ____________

Two more points to consider:

Osama was a chronically sick man. He should have died of kidney failure by now. Maybe he did. Or maybe the blood of martyrs created a miracle for him that dialysis could not manage to do forever. If he died, he would be buried almost immediately according to Islamic law.

The terror alert color chart was not raised to a more alarming color. Is Bush saving that for a more politically effective (and coincidental) moment--OR is Osama known in inner circles to be dead and the charade would risk unearthing this fact?

12:35 AM  
Blogger Professor Pan said...

Idris -- thanks for the tips to the other commentary.

I also found "OBL's" recommendation of the book peculiar, but didn't make the connection that it could be bait for Homeland Security surveillance. That is very possible, and chilling.

9:33 AM  

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