Thursday, September 06, 2007

Bin Ladin’s back?


Like the critter in the whack a mole game, Osama bin Ladin is set to reappear on the world stage, reportedly planning a video message for America (and the world) timed to coincide with the commemoration of the events of September 11th.

Al Qaeda’s media site reportedly has said that bin Ladin will release a new video before September 11; if it comes to pass it will be the first time that the al Qaeda leader has been seen in three years. Judging by the still photo released by the website, bin Ladin has been spending some time on his grooming. The picture provided presents a neater beard, groomed and coloured it would seem, as the grey flecked and black streaked look of three years ago is now apparently gone.

US intelligence is apparently examining the photo for hints as to authenticity, and an official there took pains to remind reporters that there have been rumoured re-appearances in the past that never panned out.

Never the less, the possible return of the man whom many consider Public Enemy Number one, has spurred on a deluge of news stories about what his return may portend.
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Prior to 2004 and his last appearance, a bin Ladin video was considered a signal to operatives to launch some nefarious deed on an unsuspecting part of the world, a situation that many will no doubt think back to and give cause for thought in these days leading up to September 11.

For President Bush, the sudden appearance of bin Ladin could prove to remind his citizens that there hasn’t been much progress made in the pursuit of the al Qaeda head since the days that the President vowed to “smoke em out”. The subsequent war in Iraq and a less than helpful bit of assistance from supposedly close friend Pakistan seems to have side tracked any concerted effort to track him down, prosecute and hold him accountable for the deeds of that infamous day.

Whether he becomes material or myth, from tabloids to broadsheets, serious journals to the UFO seeking news sheets; everyone is writing about a very tall, but now well coiffed man who may have more bad news to bring to an already anxious world.
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