New Osama video

After a long, long absence, he's back with a new video. No word on when it was made (and I wouldn't be surprised if it's an old video held back until just before the election), but it sounds like Osama's a big Fahrenheit 9/11 fan:

Appearing healthy and reading from a sheet of paper, he says the attacks would have been less severe if U.S. President George Bush had been more alert.

"It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the country would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone ... because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important," bin Laden said, referring to Bush's visit to a school when the attack occurred.

Update: the video mentions John Kerry, which implies it was likely made quite recently.

If you're supporting Kerry, you probably think Osama released the video now to make Americans afraid again, so they'll rush back to Bush (who has played into Al-Qaida's hands by supporting Israel and attacking Iraq). If you're supporting Kerry, you probably think Osama released the video now to show Americans their President hasn't been able to catch him, so they'll flock to Kerry (who will play into Al-Qaida's hands by scaling back the war on terror).

I declared Osama dead a long time ago, but if that really is him on the tape - and it certainly looks like him - I have to assume he's still around. Hopefully not for much longer.

Update II: two predictions.

Posted by damian at October 29, 2004 05:39 PM