after a long silence Osama bin Laden has released a new audio tape in which he complains and warns the Muslim world that there is a new crusade and they must protect themselves. Much of the thrust of the tape seems to be a reconcilliation with Hamas.

To my way of thinking, anything Osama says is irrelevent. The amazing and fascinating things is how much coverage one of his purile pronouncements gets. And, of course, whenever he opens his mouth it makes one wonder why the resources of the Bush fed have not been able to catch him?

Maybe our CIA could be outsourced and everyone going into al Jazerra followed until bin Laden is located? Or, perhaps big pharma could be tracked and the delivery of dialysis material could be traced?

Or, maybe bin Laden is coming to recognize that Hamas might have found the ultimate poison pill for the West? After all, Hamas came to power by a democratic election. If fundamentalist want to have theocratic governments, all they have to do is sponsor an election and elect a government that will use Shia as a model for law.

Perhaps bin Laden's found a perfect route to his objectives, one man-one vote-one time!

Publius