Is Peter Bergen and his new Osama bin Laden book full of Crap?

[Up2Late]

Here's the link:

<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743278917/qid=1137047847/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-8141598-9482202?n=507846&s=books&v=glance>



The Osama bin Laden I Know : An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader (Hardcover)
by Peter Bergen

Because if not, it raises a LOT of questions.

See, he was just on "The Daily Show" tonight, and he said that he personally interviewed about 50 people, some of who were "...ACTUAL former Al Quida members..." which for me, raises these question:

1) How and where did he interview these former Al Quida members? GTMO?

and if not,

2) Why is it that Peter Bergen CAN meet with "Former Al Quida members?" :shrug:

I mean, why, If Bush is so serious about this "War on Terror," why are those former Al Quida Members" not at GTMO or a least in U.S. custody, getting ready to be put on trial?

Ya see what I'm saying? :wtf:

[thefloyd]

1. Unrelated issue

Bergen's laugh was definitely unique.

[Up2Late]

3. Maybe not so unrelated, because...

...it seemed like "nervous laughter" to me, like he knew what he wrote was not completely true.

[bigtree]

2. It occured to me as Bergen described bin-Laden in the present tense

and acknowledged the new reports of bin-Laden on a motor bike, that he and Bush both have a vested interest in keeping the spectre of the terrorist alive. Bush to sell his war, Bergen his book. (perhaps too harsh, not fair for Bergen who contributes to the debate, notwithstanding his PR for bin-Laden)

I personally don't need to know any more personal details about either meglomaniac.

[FreedomAngel82]

4. You should check out

the following film: "Exposed: the Carlyle Group." You can see it at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info It shows how the Bush's and BinLadin's are tied together with financies. I've also heard that Al-Quida didn't exist as a group until 2001. I remember hearing once what Al-Quida means but I can't remember right now. I have this video somewhere on one of my data discs on everything and it's a video of a guy turning himself over to the Saudi government and it's reported by ABC. ABC says it's some guy I've never heard of who is a part of Al-Quida but if you look really close it looks like BinLadin from all the video's I've seen of him. He couldn't walk and had to be carried and pushed in a wheelchair and when the camera zoomed up on him he hid his nose (which I found quite strange). Oh and I also wanted to add on edit to google Al-Quida and the CIA.

[bigtree]

7. right. it goes something like this

A significant investor in G.W. Bush's early oil ventures was the bin Laden Group, a multinational construction conglomerate based in Saudi Arabia. James R. Bath, a friend and associate of then- Gov. George W. Bush, used money from Osama bin Laden's father, Sheikh bin Laden, to set up G.W.'s oil business, according to the WSJ and the NYT.

The bin Laden Group had also invested in The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm which is/was headed by James Baker (the elder Bush's secretary of state) and Frank Carlucci (Reagan's secretary of defense). President Bush's father, H.W., is/was a senior advisor to the Carlyle Group.

edit: man, am I cranky t'nite. Bergen did a fine job with the book, as he has with other efforts to expose the cabal and their lies. I'm just a mean old silly head! ( He did dismiss the CIA link to the 'creation' of bin-Laden, but, . . . oh well.)

[FreedomAngel82]

10. Yes

And according to the film about Carlyle I told about Poppy and one of BinLadin's brothers were sitting in a hotel room watching the news and the attacks together. How sick is that?

[Binka]

14. Poppy & Bin Laden Were In DC ON 9/11 At A Carlyle Meeting! No Shit!

I know someone who was at the meeting as well. They flew out of DC that night to Dubai when ALL OTHER AIRPORTS were shut down. Bin Ladens relatives and family members who wanted to get out of the US were also on that plane.

[Up2Late]

5. Good point.

[Historic NY]

6. He was one of the last to interview bin Laden

National Geographic Special, "Holy War".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Bergen

[Up2Late]

8. Yes, for the National Geographic Channel, which is now part of News Corp,

and I think most of us here know who owns News Corp... Rupert Murdock, who also owns Fox "news."

Don't get me wrong, I love National Geographic, and the National Geographic Channel, but ever since I found out that Murdock now owns it, it adds that little bit of doubt in my mind to anything they produce.

[FreedomAngel82]

11. Ah

Was this the CNN interview where BinLadin denied having to do with the 9/11 attacks? I found that quite odd because they usually do take credit for their martyr work.

[Up2Late]

9. Well, tomorrow's interview with him on "Fresh Air" (WHYY/NPR) should...

...be interesting, though I don't know if Terry Gross with think to ask him these questions.

Here are some links if you want to hear it on Thursday:

<http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13>

This link list the Public Radio stations that have "Live" streaming, and when it airs:

<http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/program.pl?programid=17>

[Up2Late]

17. Sorry, my mistake, Bergen is on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" Now!

Not "Fresh Air" today, here's a link: <http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=5>

Book Looks at Early Life of Osama Bin Laden

Audio for this story will be available at approx. 6:00 p.m. ET


Talk of the Nation, January 12, 2006 · In his new book, reporter and
author Peter Bergen paints a portrait of Osama bin Laden by stitching
together oral and written accounts of those who knew him well.

Guest:

Peter Bergen, author of The Osama bin Laden I Know; author,
Holy War, Inc.: Inside The Secret World of Osama bin Laden

20. thanks for the link n/t

[barb162]

12. I saw him this evening on CNN or someplace else

These interviews were done before 9-11 and we weren't really after him that much back then

[H2O Man]

13. Peter Bergen's book

strips some of the myths about Usama bin Laden from both the left and right wing in the USA, and provides a highly accurate account of him and al Qaeda.

[KharmaTrain]

15. I'd Read The Book and Learn Bout Bergen Before You Trash Him

Bergen interviewed bin Laden in 1999 and other top Al Queda leaders over the years. This man knows not only that part of the world, but also the movers and shakers. There's a ton of Al Queda and other "terrorists" who live openly in Northwest Pakistan and Bergen explains that a lot of his interviews were done in that country.

This man has also been against the war from the outset and was all but railroaded by CNN, along with Christine Armanpour, cause they weren't giving the news the way this regime wanted them to.

[Up2Late]

19. I know plenty about Peter Bergen & find your analogy Questioning=Trashing

...absolutely absurd and frankly, very offensive. :spank:

Just because a "respected author" or "terrorist expert" writes a book, does NOT put that person beyond scrutiny.

I'm not "trashing" Bergen, I asked a few simple questions that occurred to me, that are good and fair questions that should be asked, in the hope it would promote further questions and analysis.

That's what we do here! At DU (and at other Discussion Forums like this) we:

1) Question the actions of Politicians

2) Question the MSM "product"

3) Question what Reporters and Authors write...

Plus dozens of other things.

Maybe you like to be spoon fed your information by "respected authors and journalists," I don't. I will continue to question them and the so-called "experts."

I doubt too many here would question that distrust and skepticism, about what we read and hear in all forms of the media, is a good thing to keep these days.

[H2O Man]

22. Possibly

a person could view your comment about "full of crap" as indicating something less than an objective questioning of the book. Distrust and skepticism are good, but perhaps "full of crap" is a bit beyond that.

If Bergen is correct about much of what he writes, it would appear to mean that some of the firmly held beliefs that many DUers have about Usama bin Laden need to be revisited with the distrust and skepticism that we should all value.

[EFerrari]

16. I believe Peter Bergen is an honest investigator who does good work.

And, I think he is a somewhat naive one.

[AlCzervik]

18. he won me over with "They don't hate us for our freedoms, thats wrong"

[oblivious]

21. A top Aljazeera reporter was jailed for interviewing Osama

He was accused of collaboration with a terrorist organisation. Dangerous business. The just have to accuse him of being a money courier. How can he prove he isn't?

Google Tayssir Alouni
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=Tayssir+Alouni&btnmeta%3Dsearch%3Dsearch=Search+the+Web