Is It Bin Laden Again I Believe

I believe the recently released Bin Ladin tape is authentic.

I could only hear snippets in the background of the CNN report, but it

certainly sounded like Bin Laden to me. He has a slightly strange

diction, with vague threats always implied, and I heard what I thought

were some characteristic idiosyncrasies.

Why audio rather than video? It is possible that Bin Ladin was disfigured at

Tora Bora. There have been rumors for some time that he was wounded

there but managed to escape. Some say he lost his voice for months as a

result of his wounds, and only regained it in September while recuperating

in Lahore, Pakistan. If he suffered facial burns, he could not now

appear on videotape without disheartening his followers. Hence the resort to

audio only.

I have for some time argued that al-Qaeda continues to be highly dangerous

to the U.S. (demonstrably moreso than Iraq), and that we should redouble our

efforts to find Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and other high-level leaders of

the organization. As long as they are alive, they continue to inspire potential

followers, to devastating effect.