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New Bin Laden Tape Surfaces

An anonymous submitter writes "Osama bin Laden delivered a new videotaped message in which he told Americans their security does not depend on the president they elect, but on U.S. policy. 'Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda.'"

18 of 482 comments (clear)

  1. Gee.... by GreyWolf3000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda.'"

    Let me be the first to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

    --
    Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
  2. so, who does Bin Ladin want elected? by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Does he actually want to defeat Bush, or does he know that Bush's approval ratings go up whenever he(Bin Ladin) makes a threat, and so he actually wants Bush elected?
    OR does he know we know he knows, and he actually want Kerry elected?

    Or.. wait a second.. does he know we know he knows we know he knows, and he actually wants Bush elected? DIABOLICAL!

    --
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    1. Re:so, who does Bin Ladin want elected? by antv · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think bin Laden wants to appeal to, ahem, "undecided" in Middle East. His message is essentially "bad Americans are attacking you", and addressing it to Americans is a political stunt that would allow him to say "see, I tried to make peace with USA - it's all their fault".

      Of course it's easier for bin Laden to deal with the guy who isn't concerned about him, as opposed to the guy who busted BCCI. However, for Al-Quaida, we are a boogeyman that they use to recruit more people. It doesn't really matter who the president is, bin Laden would still call us "the great Satan".

      --
      Obama 2012: our incompetent asshole is slightly less of an incompetent asshole than the other incompetent asshole !
    2. Re: so, who does Bin Ladin want elected? by the+gnat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      the things that appear to rile OBL the most

      Actually, bin Laden had never been known to give a shit about the Palestinians before they became a really trendy cause. He's had this jihad complex for most of his adult life, and they're just a convenient propaganda tool for him, since (at least until the Iraq war) they were the primary symbol of Western oppression of Islam. So he mentions them as an example of American perfidy, but it's hard to see how blowing up several hundred innocent Africans supports the Palestinian cause.

      As has been discussed endlessly in stories about al Qaeda, bin Laden mostly just wants to restore the Caliphate, and roll back the clock 1400 years to when a vast Islamic empire stretched from Spain to India and beyond. The Caliphate was a cultural, economic, and military superpower, just like the USA is today, and (given the pathetic state of most of the Islamic world today) the comparison is humiliating. Furthermore, the continued dominance of the USA inhibits the rise of an Islamic empire. Only a truly isolationist USA would be satisfactory to the jihadists.

      I suspect co-existence with these assholes is impossible. I have no problem with cultural imperialism; sorry, secular Western culture is superior to a theocracy that executes gays, treats women like property, and exercises the death penalty on people who drink. This isn't a statement about Islam versus Christianity - I find both equally absurd - but about secular liberalism versus theocratic statism. I do have a large problem with 100,000 civilian casualties from a US invasion, but, in principle, I agree with Bush that the Islamic world should adopt Western forms of government, where freedom of conscience, individual rights, and democracy are paramount. The bin Ladens of the world will never accept this - so as far as I'm concerned, the best way to respond to their demands is with napalm.

      As for Israel - an equitable solution to the current mess is most certainly required, but this is totally irrelevant to dealing with bin Laden.

  3. Re:This is what Bush needed by andreMA · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Unfortunately the impact will almost certainly benefit the Bushites.
    Actually given the content of the message, I don't think it'll have much impact except to remind people that bin Laden is still alive in spite of Bush promising to 'get him dead or alive' then later saying 'I'm not that concerned with him'. Folks will naturally wonder if we would have gotten him if Bush didn't detour us into Iraq.
  4. Let the candidates speak for themselves... by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 4, Insightful
    bin Laben, if it is really him, seems to be trying to set terms for ending the attacks against the U.S. This is irrelevant. At this point, we have no reason to consider anything but his and al Qaeda's total destruction. There is no other safe way to treat enemies so completely without honor. I would suggest that this is how both President Bush and Senator Kerry see it, too.

    From the CNN article:


    Bush told reporters as he was boarding Air Force One for Columbus, Ohio, "Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I'm sure Senator Kerry agrees with this. ... We are at war with these terrorists, and I am confident we will prevail."

    Kerry told reporters in West Palm Beach, Florida: "Let me make it clear -- crystal clear: as Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists."

    He added: "They are barbarians. And I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes. Period."


    The terrorists will not scare the United States as it did Spain, the Phillippines and other countries. I do not believe Kerry would be as effective at this as Bush, but I do believe he will pursue and destroy al Qaeda should he become our President. Anything else sets the precedence to begin the destruction of America.

    I believe that all Americans should unite behind our President, whoever he is in January, to continue and win this war for our security and the security of free people everywhere.

    --
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    1. Re:Let the candidates speak for themselves... by andreMA · · Score: 4, Informative
      The terrorists will not scare the United States as it did Spain
      This is a common misperception. The attack itself had far less impact on the Spanish election than the incumbent party - without evidence - attempting to pin it on the Basque seperatist ETA... to whom the opposition party was seen as somewhat sympathetic.

      The Spanish people were angered at being lied to for political purposes, and it backfired on the liars.

    2. Re:Let the candidates speak for themselves... by merdark · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You are already afraid. You are destroying yourself. The terrorrists won't bomb you out of existence, but they WILL frighten you into giving away all your civil liberties.

      Stand up for what America once meant: freedom.

      Vote for who will give you that. Don't believe the propaganda your politicians feed you.

  5. Al Jazeera did not translate one phrase properly by vandelais · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Ashlee Simpson and her band of infidels had failed Americans with her Saturday Night Live performance, deceiving the nation and putting it at risk from further al Qaeda strikes", bin Laden said. The speech was his clearest claim yet of responsibility for the Sept. 11 strikes of 2001.

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  6. Re:Osama makes more sense than either Bush OR Kerr by Oliver+Lineham · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Of course he makes sense, thats how he gets such a large group of followers prepared to die! I've no doubt that he actually believes what he is saying aswell. Even so that doesn't excuse his actions

    Funny how the above statement applies equally well to Bush and his troops, as it does to bin Laden and his followers.

    Which, I think, was the parent's point.

    --
    -- mind over pixel
  7. Re:Osama makes more sense than either Bush OR Kerr by rmohr02 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Just read what the man said. He makes sense. I trust him more than Bush or Kerry.
    Regardless of your opinion on the matter, I don't think I'll be writing in bin Laden come Tuesday.
  8. Re:Authenticity by the+quick+brown+fox · · Score: 4, Informative
    "And I tell you, God only knows, that we never had the intentions to destroy the towers."

    He meant before America sided with Israel against Lebanon and Palestine. He says so, and then continues, "And as I was looking at those towers that were destroyed in Lebanon, it occurred to me that we have to punish the transgressor with the same -- and that we had to destroy the towers in America so that they taste what we tasted, and they stop killing our women and children."

    What he's trying to say is "Yeah I took out the WTC, but you started it."

  9. Motive by Simulant · · Score: 4, Insightful



    Is going to point out that according to the man himself, WE WERE ATTACKED BECAUSE OF OUR SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL? (and note that he cited direct military support for Israeli policy)

    Or shall we just continue to pretend this doesn't matter?

    Regardless of what you think may about Israel, you have to admit that this makes a helluvalot more sense than "they hate our freedom."

    It may be more productive to address this one issue than to run around invading whomever we like and justifying it by calling them terrorists no matter how tenuous the relationship is between them and Al Qaeda.

  10. Re:Not helping by Anarcho-Goth · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't think terrorist backing will help the Kerry campaign as much as bin Laden seems to think it will.

    Maybe he doesn't think it will help Kerry.
    Don't you think he would have considered that anything seemingly pro-Kerry from him would help Bush?

    Maybe he really wants Bush to win because so far he has remained safe and sound with Bush in charge.

    I bet Osama is hiding under a bridge.

    I bet he's in a disco in Germany.

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  11. Re:That is one interpertation. Doesn't explain the by Shaiken · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Try to understand this: the previous Spanish governement took Spain to war against the will of a large majority of the people. Why can't you understand that this tends to upset people, and may cause them to vote for the guy how says he'll take them out of there?

  12. Re:Osama makes more sense than either Bush OR Kerr by Karma+Farmer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Every major war in the world for the last 150 years has led to the advancement of rights, liberty, and economic improvement. Sure it's terrible when people die, but war is inevitible. And usually good always wins in the end, and the world is better off.

    You might want to ask for a refund for your history degree.

  13. If you kill them, they will try to kill you. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 4, Insightful


    You should take bin Laden's statements with the greatest seriousness. In fact, the U.S. government has effectively declared war on Arabs and Muslims. Here is just one example: New York Governor Pataki's statements are equivalent to a declaration of war.

    To get votes from Jews in the United States, U.S. politicians go into the Jewish community and declare their "support for Israel". That's code for support for Israeli violence. Many politicians don't care about the morality of their actions. They don't care whether U.S. government support for Israeli violence is actually good for Jews. They just want the vote.

    Non-Jewish United States citizens never hear about this support for foreign wars. It isn't a secret; it's on Pataki's web site. But it is effectively a secret, because no one tells U.S. citizens that they are engaging in a war that will definitely cause them to be attacked.

    There is a one-sentence record in ancient Jewish texts, that are now part of the Christian Bible, that a Pharoah of Egypt had some complaint against the Jews about 3,200 years ago. Since then, at least every 200 years, the Jews have annoyed the surrounding cultures enough that they have been the targets of extreme violence. Certainly this is regrettable. Certainly something should be done about this. However, there is no evidence that anyone presently in power in the U.S. government has a sophisticated understanding of the problems, or any sensible ideas about how a nation thousands of miles from Israel could be helpful. In fact, it seems that U.S. government support for Jewish violence is like pouring "gasoline on a fire", as one Jewish leader said.

    The U.S. government, at present, fully supports the use of violence to achieve its goals. Under George W. Bush, the U.S. government believes that it is okay to kill people and destroy their property even when the U.S. is not directly or immediately threatened.

    Most U.S. citizens do not make the connection that a policy of violence supported by the U.S. government means that they will inevitably be attacked.

    Quoting from the CNN article, here are some of Osama bin Laden's words: "And as I was looking at those towers that were destroyed in Lebanon [with U.S. government help], it occurred to me that we have to punish the transgressor with the same" he says, "and that we had to destroy the towers in America, so that they taste what we tasted and they stop killing our women and children."

    If you live in Kalispell, Montana, USA, to pick a place at random, it is unlikely that you will be directly attacked by Arab terrorists. However, attacks on the U.S. affect you profoundly because they lower your quality of life, just as the U.S. attacks on Iraq lowered the quality of life there.

  14. Ouch... by AlXtreme · · Score: 4, Insightful
    From the CNN transcribe:
    We found no difficulties in dealing with the Bush administration, because of the similarities of that administration and the regimes in our countries, half of which are run by the military and half of which are run by monarchs. And our experience is vast with them.

    [..] And he moved the tyranny and suppression of freedom to his own country, and they called it the Patriot Act, under the disguise of fighting terrorism. And Bush, the father, found it good to install his children as governors and leaders.

    As much as I despise his actions, he's got a point.
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