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| Terror Networks |
| Osama's intriguing silence |
| 2004-09-16 |
| B Raman Since the terrorist strikes of September 11, 2001, in the US, at least 10 taped messages attributed to Osama bin Laden have been telecast by the Al-Jazeera television channel. These were disseminated on November 3 and December 28, 2001; September 10, October 6, and November 12, 2002; February 11, September 10, and October 18, 2003 and January 4 and April 15 this year. Thus, there were two messages in 2001, three each in 2002 and 2003 and two so far this year. In 2002 as well as 2003, there were two messages disseminated on September 10, coinciding with the first and second anniversaries of the terrorist strikes in the US. In the message attributed to him to mark the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist strikes, he said: 'When you talk about the New York and Washington raids, you talk about those men who changed the course of history and cleansed the chapters of the nation from the filth of the treasonous rulers.' In the message to mark the second anniversary, he said: 'The confusion caused to the enemy was sufficient to make people wake up from their slumber and rise for jihad for the sake of God. I had the honour of knowing these men. One is honoured by knowing such men.' Keeping in view his practice of issuing a message on the eve of the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist strikes and remembering the terrorists who had participated in the attacks, one expected him to issue a message on September 10 this year too. I kept awake the whole of that night waiting for the expected message, but intriguingly, no such message has come till the time of the writing of this article. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #9 I think he's still alive, and Dan Rather has some typed documents form him that prove it. |
| Posted by: A Jackson 2004-09-16 8:49:23 PM |
| #8 Al Qaeda has a new military chief Expert Don't you have to, ummm, engage in military operations (as opposed to targeting civilians with car bombs, splodeydopes and kidnappers) to get that title? Did Dan Rather write this? |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-09-16 7:38:59 PM |
| #7 "He's dead, Jim" growled McCoy. "You grab his phaser, I've got his wallet." |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-09-16 11:16:33 AM |
| #6 The legend provides enough wild-eyed "tales of glory" to keep Palestinians and Chechnyans 'sploding themselves for another generation. Any bets on next year's winner at Cannes? How about Osama-The Myth, The Man? |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-09-16 10:23:48 AM |
| #5 My personal theory is that after his adventures in Afghanistan, he rather worse for wear and not so photogenic. Definitely not ready for prime time. And maybe not ready for talk radio either, if the rumors of sharpnel wound in the throat are true. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2004-09-16 10:15:18 AM |
| #4 Screw you Bones, give me the big needle. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-09-16 9:54:39 AM |
| #3 "He's dead, Jim" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-09-16 8:09:34 AM |
| #2 He's dead alright. That self important and vain murderer would have shown that scraggly goat humping ass of his on TV by now if he wasn't a stain on a cave wall. Ayman al-Zawahiri runs the show both operationally and spiritually now. A happy day when he becomes a stain as well. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-09-16 7:33:09 AM |
| #1 My crystal ball sez... he croaked. The ball is cracked, though, so I can't guarantee it's proper function. |
| Posted by: Zarathustra 2004-09-16 7:18:20 AM |