Back in Black

From the Independent: 'American intelligence sources told ABC News that the video message was authentic, recently produced and proves that the al-Qai'da leader is still alive.'

Hmmm. To begin with...are these the same intelligence sources that had bullet proof evidence of the existence of Saddam's non-existent WMD's? And since when does something as easily manipulated and fabricated as a video 'prove' anything? ('Gollum, Gollum.') And let's be frank here - what the fuck is going on with Bin Laden's beard?

All of which is to say nothing of the timing of this new release. Time after time Bin Laden (the CIA trained former US military asset) pops up at the very moment when his presence would benefit the Bush/Cheney administration. There was the video released on 29th October 2004 (see still, right), just days before the 2004 US presidential election (an uncanny piece of luck for a president seeking re-election on what was predominantly an anti-terror card). On 23rd May 2006 - as reported on Prison Planet - a Zogby poll revealed that 45% of Americans wanted a new investigation into the 9/11 murders. The very next day Bin Laden emerges with a new audio message threatening further attacks (which duly saturates the mainstream media). And just hours after the recent Zogby poll - and just days before the 6th anniversary of the 9/11 murders - this new video appears - as if by magic. Shazam!

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Reports of Bin Laden's death have abounded since 9/11 (largely ignored and/or rarely cited by the mainstream media). A 26th December 2001 report in the Egyptian paper al-Wafd cites a Taliban leader who claims he attended Bin Laden's funeral 10 days earlier. Bin Laden's supposed will, said to have been written in late 2001, was published in October 2002 in an Arab magazine. And Bin Laden's poor health was well known: in 2001 Bin Laden was suffering from (amongst other things) kidney problems, problems severe enough to require dialysis (note the pale complexion of Bin Laden 'C', above, consistent with kidney problems). Dialysis wouldn't have been an easy prospect whilst Bin Laden was on the run - if indeed he was - in the Tora Bora mountains in late 2001. Furthermore, Pakistan's President Musharraf (amongst others, including Dale Watson, the FBI's then counter-terrorism chief) said at the time that they believed Bin Laden to be almost certainly dead...

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One thing is certain: if the person in the new video really is Bin Laden, then America's most wanted has developed some bizarre new beard complex.