State Department Tried to Stop Airing of Bin Laden Tape

[DemFromMem]

Not sure if this has been posted yet. But it does raise some questions regarding what the Administration has to fear.


State Department Tried to Stop Airing of Bin Laden Tape

By Barry Schweid The Associated Press
Published: Oct 29, 2004

WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department on Friday urged the government of Qatar, which finances Al-Jazeera, not to broadcast a videotaped speech by Osama bin Laden, a senior State Department official said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the State Department spoke to officials in Qatar before Al-Jazeera showed a portion of the tape. In it, the al-Qaida leader said the United States can avoid another attack if it stops threatening the security of Muslims.

The request to the Persian Gulf government, which is considered an ally in the U.S. campaign to counter terror, was passed through the U.S. embassy in Doha, Qatar's capital.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and other Bush administration officials have appeared in Al-Jazeera interviews, although the State Department has occasionally denounced the network as biased against the United States. The reason for going on these programs is to convey the U.S. message to the Arab world, the official said.

AP-ES-10-29-04 1903EDT


http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB5HREYW0E.html

[susanna]

1. I think this article is just plausible deniability.

They knew a lot of folks thought Osama would be trotted out close to the election as a political card. I know I did, and friends of mine that are (R) thought so too. We were all right. They don't fool me that they "didn't want it shown."

That said, I'm not sure who this will break for. It contains good and bad for both candidates. This is pretty unusual. I'm hoping that folks realize that Osama Bin Hidin is still around and they realize that * didn't finish the RIGHT job before he stalled us in the War on Terror due to the quagmire in Iraq.

That's really all I can do at this point, besides driving voters to the polls and phone banking for Kerry where needed. Both of which I still plan on doing. :-)

[cliss]

2. I'm not sure why people feel this is a good thing for Bush.

Usama Bin Laden comes out as highly critical of Bush (the reference that Bush sat and read a story while 50,000 people had to fend for themselves). Bin Laden also criticizes the Bush family + Daddy.

It makes you wonder how close their "friendship" really was. Also, Kerry gets to rub salt in the wounds: "You let him go". The timing just couldn't be worse.

Some people interpret this as a dramatic "ad" for Bush. I see it as a huge negative.

It's about as bad as the Box On the Back.