Al-Jazeera has aired yet another audiotape supposedly coming from al-Qaeda terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. The tape makes direct reference to the capture of Saddam Hussein, making it probable that it was recorded sometime in the last three weeks.
Of course, that assumes that Osama bin Laden is the one who is speaking on the tape. There’s no solid evidence other than these easily-fabricated tapes and heresay that bin Laden survived the December 10, 2001 assault against Tora Bora. There is some evidence that he did, but it is not sufficiently clear that this evidence is reliable.
Until then, it is still better to be safe than to be sorry. While we don’t know bin Laden is alive, it’s best to assume that he is in continuing the war on terrorism. The international effort to stop the funding of terrorism has been extraordinarily successful. The military conflicts against al-Qaeda in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere have all been overwhelmingly one sided. al-Qaeda is still on the run and trying desperately to change their strategies to defeat the increases in security across the US and other nations.
The problem is that no matter how well this country is secured, there are always weak links in the chain. The best defense is always a strong offense, and this is doubly true in the War on Terrorism. Undermining the radical madrassas, stopping the flow of arms, money, and drugs that feed terrorism, and supporting democratization worldwide are absolutely critical to winning this war. We cannot simply disengage from this conflict and leave it to the UN to give the final surrender and hope all goes well. Such a strategy would virtually guarantee attacks that would make September 11 seem tame by comparison.
If Osama bin Laden is alive, he is engaged in a losing battle against time. Sooner or later he will end up captured or killed just as Saddam Hussein was. The only question is will we have the will to see this war out that long or will we surrender and allow the terrorists to regroup. Given the proclivities of the present occupants of the White House and the American people, the terrorists should not count on us going wobbly any time soon.
Osama is dead. He’s been too quiet… Assault on Tora Bora, his failing health, etc… If he’s alive, he wouldn’t pop up just to record this silly tape. He would pop up after another 9/11 type attack.