Alcaray,

I can't remember what you said, but I'm sure that you were wrong.

;o)

Seriously though, my recollection is that you were certain that our technical guys would be able to suss out the validity of that earlier, apparently incriminating audio tape supposedly of bin Laden. I disagreed. Subsequently, our intelligence agencies assured us that the tape "was almost certainly OBL," but several days later, European audio experts issued a report which declared that the tape almost certainly did not feature the voice of Osama bin Laden.

It seems to me that the only people with a motivation to fabricate bogus evidence like this are those who have a stake in proving that bin Laden is the responsible party.

Therefore, from my perspective, the case against bin Laden is a house of cards built on the flimsy foundation of a video tape, which I, and many others, have judged to be bogus.

I've posted the comparison photos here, on more than one occasion as I recall, and to my satisifaction, the guy on there doesn't even look like Osama. Others have noted additional reasons for doubting the validity of the video, such as the imposter's mannerisms and gesticulations, which these observers have noted are completely at odds with Mr. bin Laden's earlier recorded behavior.

Bear with me for a bit longer, please, while we recall that the video tape in question was ballyhooed as the damming piece of evidence against bin Laden in the wake of 911. If we accept that it is bogus, based on the straightforward observation that the guy on there is an imposter, then we have no evidence that bin Laden was even involved, (which jibes with his own statements in his interview with a Pakastani newspaper where he denied either foreknowledge or involvement in the WTC attacks), but a strong indication that someone is trying to frame him.

Here I suggest we sprinkle on a little common sense and logic. If OBL were really guilty, it makes no sense that he would deny involvement in this great strike against America; it makes no sense at all. Nor does it makes sense that this careful, crafty, diabolical terrorist would leave an incriminating video tape lying around, and one of such poor quality in the bargain.

No, it makes much more sense that these tapes - the bogus video and the bogus audio, which was the subject of our earlier discussion and disagreement, are nothing less than fabricated evidence meant to incriminate the designated patsy, Mr. Osama bin Laden.

Finally, we have yet another audio tape, this time of much better quality, which conveniently surfaces at just the same time, in early February 2003, as the Bush administration and its bellicose chickenhawks are trying to trot out these improbable connections between bin Laden and his al Qaeda cadre, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

It's almost laughable, yet many Americans swallow the whole ludicrous scenario hook, line and sinker.

So relentless has been the media barrage, that now many Americans actually think that Iraq was behind Black Tuesday, which proves not only that many of our fellow citizens lack critical thinking skills, but also that the mainstream media cannot be counted upon to tell us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

sp