from
WhatReallyHappened Website
A videotape purportedly showing Osama
bin Laden confessing to the 9/11 attacks was made public on
December
13, 2001:
The tape bore a label indicating it
was made on November 9. Administration officials wouldn't reveal
exactly how or when they got it, except to say it was found in a
house in Jalalabad after anti-Taliban forces moved in.
[Online
NewsHour - below]
The videotape was supposedly physically
located.
Satellite photo
of Jalalabad.
Population ~150,000 |
The size of a standard VHS videotape is 7.5 inches wide by
4.2 inches deep by 1 inch high - if you look in a
video cabinet you'll see they're not very big. The satellite
photograph on the right shows Jalalabad - it is very big and
it contains a lot of buildings (not all single storey).
Don't you find it somewhat fortuitous that a very small video tape
of Osama confessing to the 9/11 attacks was found in this very big
city? Were squads of video watchers sent in to view every tape found
just in case one showed Osama confessing?
Here's what was said of the "lucky find":
"For those who see this tape,
they'll realize that not only is he guilty of incredible murder,
he has no conscience and no soul, that he represents the worst
of civilization," said President George W Bush.
US Senator Ron Wyden, who has also seen the tape, says he hopes
it will remove suspicions in countries such as Pakistan that the
11 September attacks were an Israeli plot aimed at drawing the
US into a war with Islamic countries.
[BBC
News]
The video was very effective in
diverting media attention away from the deportation of five Israelis
who danced as the twin towers burned - "Osama" certainly picks his
moments to appear.
Details of the videotape - includes full video and transcript.
See
below section.
A German TV show found that the White House's translation of the
video was inaccurate and "manipulative". Bin Laden even praised two
live 'hijackers' - Wail M. Alshehri and Salem Alhazmi.
Why didn't he
know the names of hijackers he personally chose?
The quality of the video was very poor
and the authenticity of the tape was questioned. This annoyed
President Bush:
"It is preposterous for anybody to
think that this tape is doctored," he said during a brief photo
opportunity with the prime minister of Thailand. "That's just a
feeble excuse to provide weak support for an incredibly evil
man."
[CNN]
To be perfectly honest it is
preposterous to suggest this videotape could be authentic, but lets
have a look at it anyway.
Here's 5 Osamas - which is the odd one
out?
Even Mr Magoo would have to say that
Osama 'E' stands out like a sore thumb, and this is the man
confessing on the "lucky find" tape. Between the nose and the cheeks
it is clear that this man is NOT Osama.
In the video Osama 'E' appears to write notes with his right hand,
yet the FBI's description of Osama indicates he is left-handed.
Osama 'E' wears a ring on his right hand which does not appear on
other confirmed photos of Osama (e.g. Osama 'B'). Another man is
seen wearing a large gold ring in the video. Since the wearing of
gold rings is forbidden by Islam it shows neither he nor Osama 'E'
has any devotion to this faith.
On December 27, 2001, a second video containing the pale skinned and
very real Osama 'C' was broadcast on al Jazeera.
The "Gaunt Tape," so named because bin Laden is haggard and doesn't
move his left arm, is believed to have been recorded around Nov. 19,
2001. In the tape, bin Laden refers to the U.S. bombing of a mosque
in Khost "several days" earlier.
The U.S. bombed a mosque in Khost
on Nov. 16. Bin Laden does not move his left arm and his appearance
is both gaunt and pale. [watch below Video]
So, this tape was made around ten days after the "lucky find" tape
was reportedly made. Are we to believe that Osama's skin, hair and
beard changed color in ten days?
The broadcast of the tape caught the US government completely
off-guard:
The recording was dismissed by the Bush administration ... as sick
propaganda possibly designed to mask the fact the al-Qa'eda leader
was already dead.
"He could have made the video and then ordered
that it be released in the event of his death," said one White House
aide.
[Telegraph]
This was a very telling response.
Also,
his comments caused quite a stir because because they
contradicted the "confession" video:
American officials argued that bin Laden's frequent references to US
support for Israel were a bogus justification for his terrorism
because in the "dinner party" tape of a private conversation there
was no mention of the Middle East.
[Telegraph]
This is very odd indeed because in bin Laden's September 28, 2001
denial of involvement in the 9/11 attacks he had plenty to say about
the US and Israel:
This system is totally in control of the American-Jews, whose first
priority is Israel, not the United States. It is clear that the
American people are themselves the slaves of the Jews and are forced
to live according to the principles and laws laid by them. So, the
punishment should reach Israel. In fact, it is Israel, which is
giving a blood bath to innocent Muslims and the U.S. is not uttering
a single word.
[Public Action]
And his views were the same in 1998:
"We say to the Americans as people and to American mothers, if they
cherish their lives and if they cherish their sons, they must elect
an American patriotic government that caters to their interests, not
the interests of the Jews."
[American Free Press]
Not only do the real Osama and the
"lucky find" Osama look totally
different, they also write with different hands and have different
faiths and priorities.
It does not get any more obvious than this.
There is clearly good reason to doubt the November 9 tape. There is
excessive noise on the audio track, making it impossible to really
hear what is being said. Given that the tape was recorded in an area
supposedly devoid of audio urban signature, there should have been
little ambient noise, yet the speech is masked with a great deal of
noise.
But there are very good reasons to suspect that the tape is not what
the US Government claims it to be. In the tape, Osama supposedly
states that he knew of the attack on the WTC 5 days in advance, yet
we know from the preparations inside the United States that the plan
had been in existence for much longer than that.
The records of
those flight schools where the hijackers supposedly trained
have
been confiscated under the watchful eye of Jeb Bush, Governor of
Florida and brother to the President. Will the Bush administration
now claim that the hijackers learned to fly a passenger jet in just
5 days?
Likewise, The translation of the Osama tape has him stating that the
hijackers did not know they were about to die, yet letters the FBI
claim to have found written by the hijackers
indicate the exact
opposite.
Finally,
this was not the first video tape claiming to show Osama
confessing, and claims made in the earlier "confession" tape,
including a claim that
Osama had nukes, were created by the
translator, not actually stated by Osama.
This never-to-be-seen video also appeared right on cue:
Emergency powers to imprison suspected international terrorists
indefinitely using special closed courts will be announced this
week. The measure, which will require exemption from human rights
legislation, will be used to round up about 20 suspects hiding in
Britain beyond the reach of existing laws.
[Telegraph 11/11/2001]
Even hard line secular Pakistanis were unconvinced by the released
bin Laden video tape.
Iqbal Haider, a former senator from the party
of ousted prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said he found it hard to
believe that bin Laden would allow himself to be filmed confessing
to the crime.
"It is hard to believe that a man who masterminds the
September attacks with such secrecy and finesse could be that stupid
and imprudent," he said. "I hate Osama and the Taliban because they
inflicted incalculable damage on Muslims... but it is hard to
digest that he can be such a fool."
When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Laden’s Most
Wanted web page, [Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the
FBI] said,
“The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin
Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence
connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.” ...
The Muckraker Report attempted to
secure a reference to the U.S. government authenticating the Bin
Laden “confession video”, to no avail. However, it is conclusive
that the Bush Administration and U.S. Congress, along with the dead
stream media, played the video as if it was authentic. So why
doesn’t the FBI view the “confession video” as hard evidence?
[Muckraker Report]
You are being lied to by the US Government. They are using
deception
to trick you into surrendering your freedoms, money, and the lives
of your children for a phony "War On Terror".
OSAMA
BIN LADEN VIDEO TAPE
December 13, 2001
from
PBS Website
Ray Suarez reports on a video tape, released by the Pentagon, which
the Bush administration says clearly proves Osama bin Laden
masterminded the Sept. 11th attacks.
Then, two experts analyze the
tape:
Watch
experts analysis Video |
|
Audio
"bin Laden Conversation" |
|
JIM LEHRER:
A most chilling videotape was made
public today. The pentagon released a tape of Osama bin Laden
discussing the successful attacks of September 11.
Administration officials said it makes clear that bin Laden was
the mastermind behind the operation. Ray Suarez begins our
report.
RAY SUAREZ:
The tape bore a label indicating it
was made on November 9. Administration officials wouldn't reveal
exactly how or when they got it, except to say it was found in a
house in Jalalabad after anti-Taliban forces moved in.
The U.S. Government translated the
Arabic conversation and provided subtitles. The tape, which has
a home video quality, shows bin Laden sitting on the floor in a
bare room in a house in Kandahar. With him are several other
men, including two aides and an unidentified cleric, or Sheikh.
Bin Laden, identified on screen as UBL, made it clear he planned
the September 11 attacks.
Bin Laden says,
"We calculated in advance the number of
casualties from the enemy who would be killed based on the
position of the tower. We calculated that the floors that would
be hit would be three or four floors. I was the most optimistic
of them all. Due to my experience in this field I was thinking
that the fire from the gas in the plane would melt the iron
structure of the building and collapse the area where the plane
hit and all the floors above it only." (Translated) "This is all
that we had hoped for."
The Sheikh replies, "Allah be praised."
Osama bin Laden continues:
"We were at - (inaudible…) -- when
the event took place, we had notification since the previous
Thursday that the event would take place that day. We had
finished our work that day and had the radio on." (Translated)
"It was 5:30 PM our time. I was sitting with Dr. Ahmed Abu-al-Khair.
Immediately, we heard the news that a plane had hit the World
Trade Center.
We turned the radio station to the news from
Washington. The news continued and no mention of the attack
until the end. At the end of the newscast, they reported that a
plane just hit the World Trade Center."
Again, the Sheikh replies: "Allah be praised."
Bin Laden continues:
"After a little while they announced that
another plane had hit the World Trade Center."
"The brothers who
heard the news were overjoyed by it."
Now the Sheikh continues:
"I listened to the news and I was
sitting. We didn't - we were not thinking about anything, and
all of a sudden, Allah willing, we were talking about how come
we didn't have anything, and all of a sudden the news came and
everyone was overjoyed, and everyone, until the next day in the
morning was talking about what was happening. And we stayed
until 4 o'clock listening to the news, every time a little bit
different. Everyone was very joyous and saying, 'Allah is great.
Allah is great. We are thankful to Allah. Praise
Allah.'"
"And I
was happy for the happiness of my brothers. That day the
congratulations were coming on the phone non-stop." (Translated)
"The mother was receiving phone calls continuously, 'Thank
Allah. Allah is great.'"
RAY SUAREZ:
An aide to bin Laden, identified as
Sulayman or Abu Guaith, expressed joy at learning of the
attacks.
"I was sitting with the Sheikh in a room. Then I left
to go to another room where there was a TV set. The TV
broadcasted the big event. The scene was showing an Egyptian
family sitting in a living room. They exploded with joy. You
know when there's a soccer game and your team wins; it was the
same expression of joy.
There was a subtitle that read 'In
revenge for the children of Al Aqsa: Osama bin Laden executes an
operation against America,' so when I went back to the Sheikh,"
meaning Osama bin Laden, "who was sitting in a room with fifty
to sixty people, I tried to tell him about what I saw, but he
made a gesture with his hands, meaning, I know, I know."
Bin Laden responds:
"He did not know about the operation. Not
everybody knew. Muhammad," that is, Attah, "from the Egyptian
family" meaning the Al-Qaida Egyptian group - "was in charge of
the group."
The Sheikh replies:
"A plane crashing into a tall building is
out of anyone's imagination. This was a great job. He was one of
the pious men in the organization. He became a martyr. Allah
bless his soul."
Bin Laden speaks:
"The brothers who conducted the operation, all
they knew was that they have a martyrdom operation, and we asked
each of them to go to America. But they didn't know anything
about the operation - not even one letter." (Translated)
"But
they were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them
until they are there, just before they boarded the planes."
Then
he said, "Those who were trained to fly didn't know the others.
One group of people did not know the other group. We were at a
camp of one of the brother's guards in Kandahar. They were
overjoyed when the first plane hit the building, so I said to
them, 'Be patient. The difference between the first and the
second plane hitting the towers was 20 minutes.'" (Translated)
"And the difference between the first plane and the plane that
hit the Pentagon was one hour."
The Sheikh responds: "They" - that is the Americans - "were
terrified, thinking there was a coup."
RAY SUAREZ:
At the beginning of the meeting, the
cleric thanked bin Laden for the operation and said it was a
great success. And bin Laden said the attacks helped recruit
followers.
"In Holland, at one of the centers, the number of
people who accepted Islam during the days that followed the
operations were more than the people who accepted Islam in the
last eleven years. I heard someone on Islamic radio who owns a
school in America say, 'We don't have time to keep up with the
demands of those who are asking about Islamic books to learn
about Islam.'" (Translated)
"This event made people think about
true Islam, which benefited Islam greatly."
RAY SUAREZ:
The tape, which was about an hour
long, included other footage besides the meeting. Bin Laden's
forces are seen at the site where a U.S. helicopter crashed in
southern Afghanistan in October. They displayed various parts of
the aircraft for the camera.
At the Pentagon today, Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the tape provided insights into
bin Laden and his actions.
Donald Rumsfeld: I suppose one can come away from
looking at not just this tape, but his general behavior over
time, he clearly has a large network. He clearly has a
well-financed network. It covers many, many countries across the
globe. He's a careful planner. They also are clearly able to put
things in compartments and let only certain people know certain
things.
He's also perfectly willing to do almost anything anyone
can imagine to kill people. Do I expect that he has other plans?
Sure. Do I expect that he has places he thinks he might be able
to go, someplace other than where he is if that becomes
uncomfortable?
Sure, I suspect that.
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