Okay, here's a certifiably extremely conservative--no, as CITT notes, LIBERTARIAN--organization challenging one of the central tenets of Bush's and Powell's Iraq arguments.

AL QAEDA DISLIKE SADDAM AND HIS REGIME.

Cato Institute: Why Hussein Will Not Give Weapons of Mass Destruction to Al Qaeda

(modified--Cato is Libertarian or "Market Liberal" in their words)

[ March 06, 2003, 07:27 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

I wouldn't call the Cato Institute "extremely conservative." It's more libertarian. And true libertarians tend to be isolationist. And, to complete the logic train, isolationists (like Pat Buchanan) are strongly against this preemptive war strike, whether the isolationism is coming from the left or the right.

The last purported "bin Laden" audiotape is the best evidence of an al-Qaeda/Saddam Hussein link. HOWEVER, I'm still certain that bin Laden is dead dead dead at the bottom of a Tora Bora cave. Which means the last two "bin Laden" audiotapes are a fraud. (Why only audio? Why not video? Because it's easier to FAKE audio.)

Who would put out fraudulent audiotapes to claim that bin Laden is still alive? Only two suspects:
(1) Al Qaeda. To try to show the invincibility of their cause by providing "evidence" that bin Laden is alive. Bin Laden's "prediction" on his impending death sometime in 2003 backs up this argument.
(2) The CIA. To try to show a definitive link between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein link when there's only weak circumstantial evidence.

How is the last Al Qaeda tape at all proof of a Saddam-Qaeda link, CITT? There's no proof at all, except that Osama really doesn't like his Arab brother and only reiterated the loathing of Saddam that was expressed on tapes and in printed materials found in Afghanistan after we liberated it. There's no link. Saying there is won't make it so. Critics from right, left, top, down, etc., have doubts about W.'s planned war, its premises, what it really is about.

As I said, Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the recently captured general in Osama's army of death did confirm both Pakistani and U.S. intelligence reports that Osama is still alive. The CIA believes this to be true (not that they're that infallible, but...) and all signs point to it. I don't doubt both he and Al-Zawahiri are alive. And in Pakistan, no less.

[ March 06, 2003, 07:26 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Khalid Sasquatch Mohammed also said bin Laden was dead. He has a credibility problem.

Now, as far as the claim that the most recent "bin Laden" audiotape doesn't establish a bin Laden/Hussein link, I think some people are letting their closed-minded, Bush-hating politics cloud their judgment. Here's a description of the February 11 "bin Laden" tape from the CBS news website ... hardly a gang of Bush-loving apologists:

Don't see the name "Saddam Hussein" on that al-Qaeda enemies list. But I do see the name "Yemen," which some folks mistakenly seem to think is not helping the U.S. on the war on terror. Bin Laden -- or the Bin Laden wannabe -- disagrees. Anyway, check out the full article: Bin Laden's Call To Arms?

[ March 07, 2003, 12:15 AM: Message edited by: Charlie in the Trees ]

CITT, why would he need to name Iraq WHEN IT'S THE NATION THAT'S THE CENTER OF THE ATTACK? You're selectively quoting. He also specifically singled out Saddam Hussein as an infidel, didn't he?

Also, where does Khalid Shaikh Muhammad claim Osama is dead? Please send a link.

Speaking of Ossadamma, I think there's a perfectly good reason why we haven't seen him on tape of late. Okay, the guy is 6'6" or something like that, right? He's usually wears the turban and traditional Saudi peninsula garb, he's got demonstrably large lips and brown skin, and he maintains the facial hair prescribed by the Qu'ran. He carries his Holy Book with him at all times, as well as one of those Kaleshnikovs, or perhaps that's just for enhance the photo chic and authenticity ("multimillionaire, ex-mujahed, mass murderer").

However, the U.S. and Pakistan (and perhaps Israel and Britain) are on his ass. So Ossadamma is NOT going to be running around sticking out like a peach tree in a pine forest. He's got to come up with a disguise so that he can move around Baluchistan and the other regions where he's believed to be. I think he thus hasn't appeared on tape, because his new look would immediately provide clues for our intelligence services.

I also don't doubt that he's now running around in a burka; it's not unlikely that he believes the U.S. would not think immediately of this. Snatching a burqa off an Afghan woman would be a MAJOR breach of decorum, as would searching one, and even at 6'6", if he's crouching down and scurrying from cave to safe-house, he might be able to pull it off. I think the CIA should consider this option: he's shaved off the facial hair, dropped the turban, and is passing as a woman somewhere in the tribal regions of Pakistan--thus the tapes but no images....

[ March 08, 2003, 12:08 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Here's a story from Australia's Sydney Morning Herald, dated March 5: \"Khalid changes story on fate of bin Laden\"

Since I'm sensitive to press bias in both directions, I must admit that I honestly don't know whether this paper has a reputation in Australia for skewing left or right. So I have not discounted accordingly.

This is the second time Khalid Sasquatch Mohammed has sent mixed signals regarding bin Laden's animation status. Note this article from September 9, 2002: \"Slip of tongue in interview 'betrays secret that bin Laden is dead'\"

[ March 08, 2003, 07:34 AM: Message edited by: Charlie in the Trees ]

CITT, thanks for the links. It is puzzling to figure out what's going on, but I think that Ossaddamma is still alive, and Mohammad and others realize now that the U.S. and Pakistan really may be closing in on him. If we scoured those regions carefully, there'd be a firefight or several, maybe pitched battles, but we'd get him. So perhaps Mohammad's saying he's dead after gloating about meeting him just recently is a very poor attempt to cover up the truth. Both bin Laden and Al Zawahiri are out there; Zawahiri was supposedly the ideological and religious fanatic--from Egypt--and he's another one I hope they catch.