Bin Laden Comes Back From The Dead

I wonder if Bin Laden just issued another tape to make Michael Ledeen (and all the others who have been prematurely declaring his demise) looks stupid: if so, it wasn't necessary.

Once again, strangely enough, Bin Laden's tape seems (from a Westerner's viewpoint) to do nothing to support his cause.

The key issue in this tape is Bin Laden's offer of a truce to the people of the USA. He proudly cites US polls showing a majority support withdrawal from Iraq. I suggest you read the tape yourself. Despite it's importance, you are unlikely to get the full spiel on TV tonight: full text here.

Those of us who work hard (so hard...) to get rid of Bush & Co can only groan whenever tapes like this come out. Does Bin Laden really think that viewers in the USA will dump Bush and come embrace his bloody jihad? It sure didn't work in the days before the 2004 election, when Bin Laden's tape swung crucial votes to the Bush camp, it didn't work when he urged Iraqis not to vote, so why would it work now? Is he stupid?

Or is he really appealing (again) to a Muslim audience, hoping they will be impressed by his highly visible anti-US profile? Islamic moderates have been having some success in painting Bin Laden's violence as "un-Islamic", so maybe he thinks an offer of truce will garner some support from those whose sympathies are wavering in the balance?

Or maybe he is dead, and the CIA is creating it's own photoshopped propaganda. Or maybe he has been working hand-in-glove with the Bush neo-con team all along? Who knows? I sure don't! But this latest tape will do nothing to quiet the conspiracy theories: What Really Happened has a useful index if you are interested.