U.S.: No Overt Threats In Osama Video

Security Official Tells CBS News Tape Has Recent References; Initial Analysis Suggests Speaker Is Bin Laden

(CBS/AP) 
Bin Laden's beard appears to have been dyed, a popular practice among Arab leaders, said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, a Washington-based group that monitors terror messages.

"I think it works for their (al Qaeda's) benefit that he looks young, he looks healthy," Katz said.

CBS News consultant Jere Van Dyk scoffs at that.

"I have never in all my years here ever seen a man dye his hair black," he wrote in e-mail from Afghanistan. "Men here do not dye their beards black."

Van Dyk asked Abdul Salem Zaeef, a former Taliban spokesman, deputy defense minister, and ambassador, about the change in bin Laden's appearance.

"He listened carefully, smiled and said the picture is an old one," writes Van Dyk.

The announcement that a video would be released and the photo appeared in a banner advertisement on an Islamic militant Web site where al Qaeda's media arm, Al-Sahab, frequently posts messages.

"Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," the advertisement read, signed by Al-Sahab. Such announcements are usually put out one to three days before the video is posted on the Web.

"Why this new video?" asks Van Dyk. "To recruit, to show that he is alive, to mark the anniversary of 9/11, maybe to send a message, not just to the west, to the Umma, the worldwide Muslim community, but to (Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez) Musharraf."

The anniversary has always been a major media event for al Qaeda - a chance for it to drum up support among extremists, tout itself as the leading militant group and show off its continued survival.

"They've always gone out of their way to commemorate it," said Ben Venzke, chief executive officer of IntelCenter, based in Alexandria, Va. "Historically the anniversary of 9/11 has never been drawn to attacks. It's drawn to video releases."

But the fact that bin Laden is delivering the message is significant, he said. Whether the message will indicate a potential attack will depend on what bin Laden says.

President Bush used a Sydney speech to list dead and captured terrorists, reports CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer.

"The fight against terrorists in this region is one of the untold success stories in the region," Mr. Bush said.

But left unstated was the obvious: bin Laden remains at large.

Bin Laden "is most likely hiding among Pashtuns as they are the people that inhabit both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border; or, he is being protected by some institution," says Van Dyk. "He is somewhere, most probably, in western Pakistan."

Informed sources tell CBS News that U.S. intelligence believes Osama bin Laden is hiding out in the Chitral district of northern Pakistan. A number of reports from human sources, including some alleged sightings, have put him there, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

The White House said that any new video message from bin Laden would only underscore the threat the United States and other nations face from extremists.

"Six years after 9/11, the arrests in Germany and Denmark this week and the battles we fight against al Qaeda in Iraq, Afghanistan, southeast Asia and around the world remind us of the continuing threat we face from extremists and why we must continue to take the fight to them wherever they are," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House.

It's the first images of bin Laden since a videotape on Oct. 29, 2004, just before the U.S. presidential elections. In that appearance three years ago, he said America could avoid another 9/11 style attack if it stopped threatening Muslims.

The new video also end the longest period bin Laden has gone without releasing a message. His last audiotape was on July 1, 2006, in which he welcomed new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq succeeding the slain Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Bin Laden went silent for a similar long stretch before - from Dec. 28, 2004 to Jan. 19, 2006. That absence sparked widespread speculation he was ill, wounded or possibly dead.

There has been little such speculation since then. U.S. officials have repeatedly said over the past year they believe the al Qaeda leader is alive. He is thought to be hiding in the tribal regions of western Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan.

During bin Laden's silence, his deputy, Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri, has been frequently issuing videos and audiotapes.

Al-Zawahri appeared in a 2006 video marking the 9/11 anniversary. An anniversary video in 2003 showed footage of bin Laden and al-Zawahri walking through mountain paths, with voiceover messages from both leaders.

[hindblogger]

I do not know what common US citizen thinks about these issues but one thing is sure that in pursuit to become smarter- USA is trapped in it's own shell. Ironically, this has happened in past too. In VIETNAM- all caculations went wrong and it was known to the world the hi-tech and superior war hardwares do not give you win in wars...it is man who fights with valor and fire in chest.

Well- USA has technology that it can make a controlled bombing on moon, can scan galaxies but could not locate a single man which is sais it wanted very badly. USA could not find even people who are with him...and location which he had been and anything on him yet.
Now- how we can digest this ?
USA says- weapons of mass destruction are in IRAQ and toay we know that more than 95,000 people die [ This is official figure ] in IRAQ- who is responsible and what is accountability of these deaths..if USA could not find weapons of mass deestructions ?
It means-agends was somethig else from day one- OIL ? or what ???

Then we have 9/11 and within hrs, it was declared that this is AL-QAEDA and it's base is AFGHANISTAN. USA is there...with NATO tags and here we could not find anything on AL-QAEDA too. What we are doing there ? Fighting with Talibans which are now classified as GOOD TALIBAN and BAD TALIBAN.

Honestly speaking, if you see both images of BUSH and OSAMA..OSAMA looks like a saintly figure, cool and peace on his face where BUSH looks like a man suffering from acute depression and may be piles.

[samsel3]

No he said 2.5% gratuity. Read the transcript.

[v_1618]

HEY BUSH OSAMA SAID NO TAXES. CAN YOU LET US THINK TWICE PLEASE.... MAYBE THE SHARIA LAW IS THE BEST OPTION.....

[drummer94]

So this is what happened to Elvis!

[oakishpines]

'' ... i just never could imagine walking into talk to a bunch of police and soldiers and saying to them: ''lets go to war in y''alls sons and daughters and brothers and sisters schools and call it ''dare ya'' and see how many little kids get mugged and raped and killed'' and then having them all say ''sounds great, let''s do it'' ... but that''s exactly what happened ... ''

[radiob-2009]

OBL incognito

http://www.dnaco.net/~vogelke/pictures/when-cloning-goes-wrong/














--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[samsel3]

Back in 1970 I was there When Henry Kissinger, Bush senior, *** Cheney would meet weekly with General Jumping Jim Gavin for strategy sessions in Cambridge Massachusetts. Vietnam was about big money.

[tbweb]

Posted by Samsel3 at 07:12 AM : Sep 08, 2007,,,

If your big oil and profit motives are true then they are stupid in the extreme! In that case the smart thing to do would be to give Americans cheap gas prices at the pump, it would take a lot of heat off them wouldn''t you say? If what you''re saying is true then their extreme greed by not letting Americans share in the loot will be their ultimate undoing. They could easily lull Americans to sleep with cheap gas prices at the pump but their stupidity reigns supreme!

[samsel3]

BIG OIL put up 150-million dollars to get GW in office...When he got elected it was payback time. Remember he is a Texan and was in the oil bussiness, failed at that too until the Saudis bailed him out. Thats why they are friends . There also involved in a web of multi-national corporations which include the Saudis making a lot of money. They could care less about you or me. They are in control.

[samsel3]

The USA will not leave Iraq and protesting in the streets will not change the position of Bush or the Congress. Their in control, and BIG OIL can finally make obsurd amounts of money. There are trillions of dollars to be made by BIG CORPORATE companies in Iraq...Blood money ! If you don''t believe it go to the Iraq government website. You can bid on all kinds of lucrative contracts.

[tbweb]

The real reason for invading Iraq was that Saddam was flooding the market with cheap oil. China, Russia, Germany, France and Korea were his customers, also the same group who would not send troups to support the invasion. In the months preceeding the war gasoline in Massachusetts was selling for .89 cents a gal. BIG OIL was being bailed out by congress. They needed an excuse to put Saddam out of bussiness and WMD was their lie of choice.

Posted by samsel3 at 06:34 AM : Sep 08, 2007,,,

There are many theories as to why Pres. Bush made the decision to invade Iraq. I have my own personal theory and I had a feeling Pres. Bush would invade Iraq the moment he won the Presidency! When Pres. H.W. Bush, the Presidents father and General Schwartzkopf went to Kuwait to be honored for kicking Iraq and Saddam out of Kuwait there was an assassination attempt on Pres. H.W. Bush''s life that was foiled. The assassination attempt was credited to Saddam. So the moment Pres. G. W. Bush came to power I said to myself, "oh no, this is not good, he''s going after Saddam for trying to kill his dad!" So I thought Pres. G.W. Bush was going after Saddam from the outset, family revenge fueled in addition by the feeling by many that Pres. H.W. Bush didn''t finish the job and should have! This whole Iraq war and invasion may be a simple matter of "look dad, I got the guy that tried to kill you!", a simple matter of a son trying to impress his dad. It may be just as simple and uncomplicated as that!

[samsel3]

Remember Desert Storm ? Saddam took over his neighbors oil fields because they had hired Texas Oil to use side drilling techniques to tap into Iraqs oil. Bush senior did not go all the way to Bagdad because Saddam conceeded, and they knew they''d have big problems if he was''nt left in to control the three factions living in Iraq.

[samsel3]

The real reason for invading Iraq was that Saddam was flooding the market with cheap oil. China, Russia, Germany, France and Korea were his customers, also the same group who would not send troups to support the invasion. In the months preceeding the war gasoline in Massachusetts was selling for .89 cents a gal. BIG OIL was being bailed out by congress. They needed an excuse to put Saddam out of bussiness and WMD was their lie of choice.

[tbweb]

The U.S. was closing in on Osama bin Laden and by many accounts even had him trapped in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region. It''s was just a matter of time before the U.S. squeezes the right area and kills or captures him. But then suddenly Pres. Bush stops the hunt and redirects U.S. resources to an ill-advised, ill-logical, made-no-sense-at-all invasion of Iraq??? The most interesting thing about Pres. Bush''s invasion of Iraq is that not a single American, with the exception of VP D1ck Cheney would have invaded Iraq, not even the Presidents own father, former Pres. Bush would have invaded Iraq! No American Politician, currently in the U.S. Government or previously a member of the U.S. Government would have done what Pres. Bush did! Even now, the shock and dismay over the U.S. invasion of Iraq and stopping the hunt for Osama bin Laden continues. 3,760 U.S. dead, 28,308 U.S. wounded, a costly error. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead and the calm now may be attributed to the simple fact that there are not that many Iraqi''s left to kill. Saddam is gone, there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so why is the U.S. still in Iraq? Let the Iraqi''s sort out their own drama, the Iraqi PM said the U.S. could leave whenever it wants so lets go! What''s the Prize for the U.S. in Iraq now, Pres. Bush''s ego? It''s time to renew our hunt for Osama bin Laden, this U.S. Iraq detour has ran its course, its time for the U.S. to get back on track and in the hunt for Osama bin Laden!

[lars008-2009]

osama bin forgotten says to the non muslims... convert or die and then there will be peace...

hahahahahaha

hey bin forgotten... you convert or die... lol

do yourself a favor and blow your stupid arse up so you can get your 72 virgins... or do you already know it is BS... lol

hahahahahaha

btw forgotten...

why is it that muhammad ali baba''''''''s god did not tell muhammad ali baba his name???

hahahahaha

[robertkjjj]

Bin Laden the mass murderer tells us what he''s been telling us for the last 10 years: convert to Islam or else. And this edict is supposed to be news? Apparently CBS realizes most Americans aren''t paying attention, or don''t yet know(or care) we''re engulfed in a clash of civilizations that will continue for another 50 years at least. Learn and be informed at the world%u2019s most valuable website:
www.jihadwatch.org

[lars008-2009]

See how easy it is for another robber, raper, murderer, pedophile, jesus wannabe like muhammad to get followers???

''Black Jesus'' accused of rape and murder
Police in Papua New Guinea are preparing to bring at least 30 charges of rape and murder against a religious cult leader who calls himself Black Jesus.

Steven Tari, who was captured last week after hiding out in the jungle for nearly two years, allegedly raped, killed and ate three young *** slaves he recruited in remote jungle villages on the country%u2019s north coast.

Known for wearing prophet-like flowing robes, he is suspected of raping dozens of other young girls.
Tari, 35, a failed Bible student who claimed he was the "true Christ", had around 6,000 followers and promised his disciples material wealth and religious salvation if they joined his bizarre cargo cult.

Among his devotees were dozens of_sex_slaves, some as young as nine, whom he referred to as his "flower girls".
After arresting him in his mountain hide-out last week police carried him out of the jungle on a bamboo stretcher, with his hands and feet bound.

He was almost lynched when brought to a police station in the provincial capital, Madang.
"The police are having a hard time keeping the crowd away from him because of the reports of what he did to young girls," said Peter Kili, from the Post Courier newspaper.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/19/wjesus119.xml

[sgtrds]

Well bin Laden sure has one thing over Bush. Most of the guys who started out following him still LIKE him! Whereas most of the people who used to support Bush now think he''s a complete as*shole.

I''m proud to say I don''t see any real difference between the two of them and never did, except that Bush has a much higher number of people he''s murdered to get his way, including going on 4,000 of his own troops. Both of them are murderous terrorists and neither is better or worst then the other.

[lars008-2009]

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. John Stuart Mill

It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it. Robert E. Lee

A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war. Simone Weil

If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. Thomas Paine

Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realise that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. Winston Churchill

One ought never to turn one''s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Winston Churchill

[brianbwb-2009]

My Arabic speaking friend tells me that the translation of "embrace Islam" is not accurate, if the meaning is taken to be "convert", he says that it means more to "accept the existence of", and if so, then the video, if authentic, indicates a Bin Lades assuming a softer, more political approach, but also has an inescapable logic, if Bush cannot foment religious war, he no longer has reasons for staying in Iraq.

However, my friend also says that the speech is dubbed in places, so it is difficult to judge its'' authenticity.

I still believe Bin Laden works for Bush, the timing is just before the Petraeus report, and Bush will use it to try to bully his opposition into line. The fact that there are no implied threats is probably because if another "attack" happens, we won''t be so shocked as to stand still, and allow evidence to be destroyed, or to accept lies as evidence. The next time, we will be much more thorough in our examinations, and the puppet masters controlling the perps will probably be discovered.

And Bin Laden still doesn''t use his "ace", he won''t reveal Bush and the CIA''s dirty secrets about the Afghani Russian war, and other Al Qaeda activities, so the helps Bush, ans indicates that he still works for Bush.