September
5, 2003, 9:00 a.m. I
Want My OBL
Will bin Laden condemn the MTV Kiss?
s the second anniversary of the 9/11 attacks near and Americans and other
members of the anti-terror Coalition ponder how to observe it, the terrorists
and their sympathizers are also planning commemorations. The "Magnificent
19" conference hosted by al-Muhajiroun in the U.K., for example,
has been widely reported. "A
Conference, Not A Celebration" they say, and a chance to discuss
Izhar ud-Deen, the "total domination of the world by Islam."
However, organizers won't announce publicly where the meetings will be
held because they fear official retaliation. I am sure that the celebrants
— I mean, conferees — will totally dominate whatever basement
they wind up in.
The al Qaeda leadership
no doubt has something more festive planned, as festive as they can be
under the circumstances anyway. Not like that terror summit in April,
that was all business, none of the usual bushkazi with a ritually
disemboweled goat. Maybe this year something classy, a few friends over
to the safe house, a toast with sweet green tea, a moment of silence,
then back to filling aerosol cans with botulism. But for public consumption,
the terrorists have reportedly assembled a new videotape entitled "The
American Hell in Afghanistan and Iraq (Part 1)." It was released
by the Sahab Foundation, which has production credits on many of the recent
al Qaeda videos. The latest features a statement from Osama bin Laden,
and pictures of dead Americans and other images of carnage. According
to a radical named Abu Dajanah, who claims to have seen the tape, it will
be "a strong blow equivalent to the 11 September ones because of
the tragedies they would see." That's setting the bar a little high
— over hyping on the eve of release can be devastating, didn't Abu
Dajanah see what happened to Gigli?
— but given the terrorists' utter disregard for life or human misery,
these scenes could be very shocking. Remember the Danny Pearl video, which
thankfully was never fully aired in this country.
Apparently the distributors
are vitally concerned that Al Jazeera broadcast the first part of the
tape unedited — either because it is the part with the secret messages
to terror cells, or because bin Laden's statements frequently have kicked
off with lengthy introductions and Koranic references which may have important
abstruse meanings to him and his followers but which any news producer
would see as an invitation for the audience to find out what's on ESPN.
Al Jazeera has chillingly been warned that if it does not broadcast the
first section in toto, it will be distributed instead to the Islamist
chat forums. But the online jihadists seem to have gotten a jump on the
network and previewed the tape. Some of their websites have announced
that Osama bin Laden will discuss current events in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and will bring out a surprise guest, another senior terrorist who has
been reported captured or killed. Just to note: According to the White
House Office of Global Communications nearly two thirds of known senior
al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators fall into
that category, so the potential guest list is extensive.
Al Jazeera denies
it even has such a tape, and if it did they would not air it on al Qaeda's
schedule. Last week, AJ refused to air a tape from the Iraqi resistance
that showed numerous captured American soldiers being interrogated, and
which revealed the existence of a former Iraqi military base which is
being used by the U.S. to stockpile the corpses of unreported dead Americans.
Coincidentally, shortly afterwards Iraqi police arrested four scam artists
who had sold AJ a bogus "Iraqi resistance" tape for $10,000.
The Iraqi report notes, dryly, "Such methods have become common these
days." In addition, this is not the first time we have been promised
a new Osama video in time for the 9/11 anniversary. Last summer, the then-al
Qaeda spokesman, Sulemain Abu Gaith, said we would soon see some new
OBL footage. Not only did we not get the tape, we didn't get a lot
more of Abu Gaith. He is currently believed to be among the al Qaeda leaders
under "house arrest" in Iran.
My position on the
OBL tapes has been consistent since at least April 2002 ("Osama's
Greatest Hits") — they tend to make me think he is dead.
They are usually vague, and don't mention current events; they are full
of splices and noise; and none of the experts can agree on the technical
analyses. If he is out there, he needs to be a little less ambiguous.
My standard is that if bin Laden wants to prove he is alive he must appear
on video, holding a newspaper or offering some other proof of currency
(for example, he could denounce that Madonna-Britney girl-on-girl action
at the MTV video music awards as proof of the very Western decadence the
Middle East has been so anxious to enjoy). The last time we saw anything
like this was in December 2001. The April 2003 "OBL" message
that mentioned the attack on Iraq and named Hamid Karzai as a traitor
came close to the requirement, but the audio was so questionable that
it could not be validated. Contrast those tapes with Saddam's new releases,
which are clearly not retreads of earlier statements, are better produced,
and which most analysts agree are genuine. Even if they are not, at least
the die-hard Baathists have the self-respect to pull off a convincing
fraud. Maybe the production values would improve if there were an awards
category for "Best Terrorist Propaganda Video." And Osama —
enough with the hokey blue screen effects, the reedy background music,
and random edits. Go for something simple, you, a bar stool, an acoustic
guitar, shot in black and white, maybe do some Cat Stevens — he's
on your side now right? Possibly "Trouble," lots of pathos there,
or go straight for the irony and do "Peace Train." Don't worry,
everyone will get the joke.
<% dim printurl
printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%>
s the second anniversary of the 9/11 attacks near and Americans and other
members of the anti-terror Coalition ponder how to observe it, the terrorists
and their sympathizers are also planning commemorations. The "Magnificent
19" conference hosted by al-Muhajiroun in the U.K., for example,
has been widely reported. "
