“Four More Years!”
Considering the ongoing rumor that this tape was “leaked” by a certain campagin who’s been pushing for networks to air it, I gotta say that this October Surprise is pretty lame. Here’s a bit from CNN that’s already getting ignored by the press :
“We have been unable to verify the tape’s authenticity,” the official said.Portions of the 75-minute tape were aired Thursday evening by ABC News, which said it obtained the tape from a source known to have Taliban and al Qaeda contacts in the tribal regions of Pakistan.
. . .
A U.S. official said there were “real questions about its authenticity.”By that, the official said, he meant that it was not clear whether the tape was prepared by someone affiliated with al Qaeda and taking orders from its leaders, or whether it was a hoax.
With the presidential election just days away, officials are wary of a possible trick by an impostor.
“Without being able to authenticate it, it’s just some guy talking on a tape,” the U.S. intelligence official said.
Indeed. The voice sounds like an American guy trying to fake a Middle Eastern accent. Atrios has the best take on this whole thing here :
Frankly, as far as I’m concerned ABC should pre-empt their prime time broadcast and show the whole damn thing. Go ahead and remind people that Bush diverted attention to Iraq and let a bunch of terrorists thrive in Pakistan/Afghanistan border areas. But, the real story here isn’t the existence of a rather bizarre video, it’s the fact that someone in the Department of Homeland Security or other federal agency is leaking to Drudge to put pressure on ABC to get them to run it. Now, that’s truly scary. Anyway, am I the only one who remembers the good old days when broadcasting these types of videos were thought to be a threat to national security? When Condi and the gang warned that the people on the videos could be sending “secret codes” to terrorists around the world, and they leaned on the networks to not broadcast them. At the time I thought those were just attempts to throw their muscle around, to prove they could, but they claimed they were serious. But, now we have someone involved with our national security leaking this stuff to an online gossip in order to put pressure on a major broadcaster. That’s a story.
Unlike “our” big news this week, there isn’t any evidence to prove the authenticity of this video in one way or another. This is just a guy talking into a video camera.
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Is it just me? Or does that look like a professional backdrop? I mean.. the terrorists have a studio? Something about it seems forced.
Just what struck me as odd. I do look forward to watching this video!
Comment by Christine — October 28, 2004 @ 10:57 pm
The tape was released conveniently close to Oscar Season, no?
Comment by Alex — October 28, 2004 @ 11:48 pm
“Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
It used to be a movie slogan; now it’s official policy.
Comment by Kip W — October 29, 2004 @ 7:29 am
Dude, where’s my jihad?: The timely debut of “Azzam the American”
I was cooking dinner when ABC News rolled out the latest communique from Terror, Inc: the heavily-hyped airing of an alleged al Qaeda threat from an armed and headdressed young man calling himself “Azzam the American.” In case you missed…
Trackback by Waveflux — October 29, 2004 @ 7:52 am
Dan Rather is behind it, he’s doing a double? triple? cross a la Karl Rove — as pay back to all those who ripped into him over the Bush AWOL story!
Seriously, it’s probably just some wingnut with TV studio access, trying to swing the vote toward Bush with an amateurish scare-mongering attempt. Rove might take him on as an intern one day…
Comment by jeff — October 29, 2004 @ 8:05 am
Faker than Britney Spears’ tits.
Comment by TomF — October 29, 2004 @ 1:34 pm
“Chief, they’re not buying the tape.”
“*@&%! Okay, plan B: Get Osama out of the basement and prop him in front of a camera. The American People must be scared!”
Comment by Kip W — October 30, 2004 @ 4:23 pm
You know, Karl Rove wears those same kinds of glasses.
Comment by KJK — October 30, 2004 @ 8:39 pm
I bet it’s Grover Norquist. He’s tight with the arabs, he could probably get the costume pretty easily.
Comment by Jon H — October 30, 2004 @ 8:44 pm
Well, it really doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not. People will believe whatever they want to believe, regardless of whether it’s real or not.
What IS REAL is that terrorists exist and this nation will NOT be safe with John Kerry as commander in chief. In just a few days, our future will be decided. We will ensure our safety by maintaining the status quo, or seal our doom by risking something different.
Either choice is scary. We elect Bush, maintain the degree of safety we are accustom to as our national deficit swells to record highs, or elect John Kerry and watch America become like the Middle East or Europe… where terrorists thrive. Starbuck’s and Denny’s won’t be a safe place to be any more.
I have a better idea… It’s time for the sleeping giant to get its ass out of bed again, to remind the world of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and, that they best not *@&^ with American, lest we exterminate their race. If they want to start something, let’s finish it, PERMANENTLY!
A few gigantic nukes, strategically placed to turn a worthless sand pit into a sea of glass, are all it would take to make things right. I bet our gas prices would come back down again, too. The world would be a better place.
Comment by Jon Edwards — October 31, 2004 @ 3:46 am