Ciao!

The news I heard from an MSNBC translator was that Bin Laden was actually talking shit about Saddam on the tape. He's was saying how he's against Iraqi citizens fighting on the side of the US, but that they should revolt on their own.

They sort of glossed over that when the translator was finished talking. I don't really see this as a link between Bin Laden and Iraq.

Yeah, the punditry is going all over the place on the translation. I have no idea (I don't speak Arabic).

But ... I don't think Bin Laden and Hussein really get along personally. They seem to view themselves as rivals for presenting themselves as leaders of the Arab world.

At the same time, however, Bin Laden does make statements urging good Muslims to not fight against Iraq but to instead wage a war of "martyrdom" (i.e. suicide attacks) against America and global Zionism. Blah, blah, blah.

I don't think Bin Laden and Hussein cooperate. The real danger, I think, is that people who follow both of them probably do.

In the end, the real problem isn't eliminating the voices of the two dominant Muslim figures (Hussein and Bin Laden). The real problem is finding someone, anyone to offer a different message. As my Egyptian (and Muslim) friend, Moataz, argues, there are some major problems w/in the Arab-Muslim political world. There just aren't that many moderates out there providing a legitimate alternative to secular authoritarianism (Hussein, Mubaruk) or militant theocrats (Bin Laden, Taliban).

were you aware of all the fishiness that went on before the tape's release? Powell announced what was included on the tape Al-Jazeera had- then they came out and said they didn't have any such tape and didn't know what he was talking about.
Powell said "its coming, wait."

I think its suspicious that BinLaden has only spoken on audio since the strikes on Aghganistan.

Yeah, I'm aware of the slight fishyness. But Al-Jazeera itself argues the tape is authentic -- or at least as authentic as all the others they've shown (see my CS Monitor excerpt in the post). I think Powell just scooped Al-Jazeera (they played the tape shortly after his speech, rather than in a later broadcast as Powell thought they would). Just goes to show how deep our security intelligence can get.

Could it be fake (as some conspiracy theorists might suggest)? There's always that possibility. But, I don't think so. If all evidence in favor of Bush is "made up" and only the evidence that opposes his position is "fact", then we have a real problem.

Conspiracy theories are, by definition, illogical. If one only accepts evidence that supports one's own conclusions, then the evidence becomes irrelevant. The mantra "I believe because I believe" is both circular logic and dogmatism. And irrational dogma is ugly no matter what form it takes (secular or religious).

there's certainly something to that- yet one must be careful of going to far the other way; denying their personal logic, or the stuff they find on the smaller media outlets because it conflicts with what CNN tells us. You've always been good at giving a nod to varied news sources. There is such a thing as propaganda and all governments use it. I am very doubtful that the bin laden tapes are fake.