Cave paste says what?
Al-Jazeera on Thursday broadcast portions of an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden, saying al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a possible truce to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.
The voice on the tape said heightened security in the United States is not the reason there have been no attacks there since the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings.
Instead, the reason is “because there are operations that need preparations,” he said.
First, I tend to doubt that the voice is Bin Laden. Second, it seems to imply that the much maligned flypaper afterthought, err, strategy is a consideration. See, a truce in Iraq and Afghanistan would mean they could devote their efforts to killing us white devils here in the west. So the guy claiming to be OBL wants to partially make nice and that is probably because things in Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t going the way they want.
Heightened security in the US can’t really deter all attacks. Our plan of confiscating toe-nail clippers and wiretapping of questionable legality is probably not effective so I tend to think they are in the planning stage.
January 19th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Just a standard page out of the Koranic playbook. Make nice when the Kaffir is strong, attack when the Kaffir is weak.
As for better plans at home than Taking Scissors Away:
http://www.scottbieser.com/sept11.html
January 19th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
What?
January 19th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
I want to see that fucker in a video with a dated newpaper headline…until then I think the dumbass is dead. Rather odd that we havent seen a video in years eh?
January 19th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Another thing is they are doing is playing to the anti-war crowd here. Now the loons can cry “See! They want peace!” and all will be well…
January 19th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
I think you may be misreading the “need preparations” statement. Al-Qaeda has a history of taking a long time planning attacks on US soil. Even prior to (and including) 9/11, we were only aware of three attempts (only two successful) in an eight year period. It was almost eight years between the ’93 WTC bombing and the millennium attempt.
So I read the statement simply as “these things take time to plan.”
January 19th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
Rustmeister:
I’m a part of the “anti-war” crowd, and I’ll gladly slap upside the head the first person who suggests we should take them on their word concerning any “truce” or work with them at all.
January 20th, 2006 at 7:46 am
Didn’t the Tet Offensive take place during a cease-fire?
January 20th, 2006 at 11:22 am
things in Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t going the way they want.
They’re not? Iraq is much closer to theocratic rule now than it has been for decades. Iran has considerable influence on the emerging government. There are millions of Muslims in the region who want to avenge the death of a relative at U.S. hands, and Iraq is now a live training ground for teaching these recruits how to kill and letting them taste blood. Iraq is once again part of the world economy, and dollars are being injected so fast we routinely lose track of billions of them. What gripe would al Qaeda have with how things are going in Iraq?
January 20th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Then why do they, you know, keep killing innocents there?
January 20th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
That’s a pretty simplistic take on it. All the various sides in Iraq are killing “innocents”. There is a major power struggle going on, and al Qaeda is most aligned with the Shiites, who are the majority faction and the vector for Iranian influence.
January 20th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
It’s not simplistic. They want a truce there for a reason and that’s likely because the US influence there is greater than they thought. And the Iraqis aren’t real happy with bombs going off all the time.
January 20th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Some talking heads on The News Hour pointed out that the last time OBL offered a truce, the Spanish bombings followed shortly thereafter, and speculated that the truce offer was a disingenuous attempt to get back into the headlines in advance of a soon-to-come attack. Hope not.
January 21st, 2006 at 4:24 am
I don’t believe al Qaeda wants a truce. I’m questioning the authenticity of the tape, or at least the authenticity of the offer. What Iraqis want and what al Qaeda wants are totally different. al Qaeda is a tiny faction of religious militants not affiliated with any particular nation, though Iran seems to be their current haven. Iraqis are people who get up each day and cook food, work, raise children, talk to their neighbors and friends. They’d love a truce.