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| Purported al-Qaida Audiotape Taunts Bush |
| 2004-02-25 |
| "... or I shall taunt you again!" Two audiotapes purportedly of Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant were broadcast on Arabic TV stations Tuesday, one taunting President Bush and threatening more attacks on the United States, the other criticizing France’s decision to ban Islamic headscarves in schools. The tapes, attributed to Ayman al-Zawahri, came as Pakistani forces backed by helicopters searched villages in a remote region between Pakistan and Afghanistan where bin Laden and Taliban suspects are believed hiding. Al-Zawahri, an Egyptian-born physician, is thought to be with bin Laden in the rugged mountains. Brave little big man taunting us so. A CIA spokesman said the agency conducted a technical analaysis on the tapes and determined that the voice was probably al-Zawahri’s. "Then again, it could be Squeaky Fromme. We can’t tell." In the past, U.S. intelligence officials have noted that some tape releases have been preludes to attacks. The latest audiotapes aired a few hours apart on Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera networks. Officials at both stations said they broadcast only Special delivery from Mahmoud the Weasel! "There are rumors these days that the arrest of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri is nearing; (these tapes) are a response to that," said Mohammed Salah, an expert on radical Islamic groups and the Cairo bureau chief of the pan-Arab daily newspaper Al-Hayat. Diaa Rashwan, an expert on radical Islam for Egypt’s Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said issuing both tapes almost simultaneously "requires logistical ability ... and also a central decision." A tape recorder in the boonies and a runner to deliver them. What logistical might. In Al-Jazeera’s tape, the voice believed to be al-Zawahri challenges Bush’s claim to have liberated Iraq and indicates al-Qaida - the group blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States - is still running operations from Afghanistan. "We remind Bush that the situation is not stable in Afghanistan, or else how do we wage, with God’s support and might, our attacks on your troops and agents?" the tape said. "We remind Bush that he didn’t destroy two-thirds of al-Qaida. On the contrary, thanks be to God, al-Qaida is still in the holy war battleground raising the banner of Islam." Can you raise it just a bit higher and to the right? You’re blocking the screen on the GPS locator. Ah, that’s better. "Bush, fortify your targets, tighten your defense, intensify your security measures," the tape recording warned, "because the fighting Islamic community - which sent you New York and Washington battalions - has decided to send you one battalion after the other, carrying death and seeking heaven." Yeah, sure, whatever. [yawn] |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #15 Dot, Yep, I know and it hurts. But so far so good and may God bless us. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-2-26 1:25:21 AM |
| #14 Amen, CF, amen. I'm not kidding about the chills - those morons will likely get through eventually - and if we don't have Dubya or his equivalent, you're absolutely right: we'll be nibbled half to death before the next leader with the stones & vision comes along. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-25 11:18:47 PM |
| #13 oops...I posted the above from 'Anonymous'.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-2-25 7:00:12 PM |
| #12 .com I agree with you. At some time some idiot will detonate a dirty bomb or nuke in a major city. The only way to prevent/postpone it is to make it very, very, clear that we *will* respond in kind and with overwealming force. We have to state clearly, loudly, and very publically that any terrorism using WMD would be met with the destruction of Mecca, Medina, and the capitals of the 'axis of evil' followed by 'total war'. Time to stop pussyfooting around with these fools. This is why the current U.S. election is so important. A president like Kerry or Clinton or Gore would hesitate or poopah about a response (or worse yet let the U.N. decide the response) which is a weakness. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2004-2-25 6:59:39 PM |
| #11 gromky - dead right. I want to laugh at this pissant, too, but know that it only takes one mistake, one Border Guard or Immigation Official who's not on his/her toes, and innocents will pay for it. Hardcore application of the pre-emptive policy is the only thing that can prevent the eventuality. The election timing is, to my mind, among the list of impediments, but PC-ism is the core problem. Recalling Lincoln's remarks about the terrible casualty numbers at Cold Harbor (to the effect that Grant was the General he had been looking for because he understood the hard arithmetic of war) gives me chills, now: the impetus for taking off the gloves - the hard arithmetic lesson which will remove the PC constraints - will be the next effective attack. Sad. Very sad. Sorry to be morose, folks, but if you really think they will fail on every attempt forever, well, I beg to differ -- this will get very un-funny very fast. Killing every last jihadi with extreme prejudice is the only answer, of course, but our PC-challenged society is just not ready to embrace that obvious eventuality, yet. Someday they will be. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-25 3:37:35 PM |
| #10 Surrender! Or I will taunt you again! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-2-25 2:30:10 PM |
| #9 I hate it when they ccall us "poopyheads". |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-2-25 12:31:11 PM |
| #8 Let's see... Here we have some pipsqueak hiding out in a cave afraid to show his face or disclose his whereabouts to anyone but a close and trusted few, who must transfer his statements by hand via tape more or less anonymously to the media, and who is living like a cockroach scurrying from hole to dark, stinking hole avoiding Yeah, his threats of Gloom 'n' Doom™ sure carry a lot of credibility with me. Look! I'm shaking! |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-2-25 10:42:23 AM |
| #7 "HEADLINE: AL-Q TAUNTS BUSH:" "Your mother was a hanmster and your father smelt of elderberries!" Coming up next - a reading from the Book of Armaments.... Mike Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-2-25 8:47:41 AM |
| #6 1. Bush destroyed two-thirds of al-Qaida. 2. Al-Qaida is still in the holy war battleground Those two propositions are not mutually exclusive. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-2-25 8:45:52 AM |
| #5 the fighting Islamic community - which sent you New York and Washington battalions Hey, I thought Mossad sent those guys. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-2-25 8:22:05 AM |
| #4 There's been an interesting shift in the whining and ranting of AQ. Before, they used to piss and moan about how the world isn't islamic enough; how muslims were gonna create a worldwide caliphate. How the west (and Israel) were doomed...DOOOOOMED because of that. Now, it's more or less: "Oh yeah? You think you're so tough? We're tougher, ya know. Just you wait!" This latest screed seems to be more the position of a piss ant on the defensive. He's ticked off that he's losing. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2004-2-25 8:20:21 AM |
| #3 Did they recommend we vote for? Kerry or Nader? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-2-25 8:14:29 AM |
| #2 Er...'they' meaning AQ. |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-2-25 5:32:56 AM |
| #1 Yeah, whatever...keep yawning. These are not empty threats. It is only the continued vigilance (and luck) of our security and intelligence agencies that is keeping us free from harm. They only need to succeed once. |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-2-25 5:32:14 AM |