NEWS!

[CajunBabe]

WASHINGTON (Nov. 13) - U.S. counterterrorism officials believe a new audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden is probably authentic and are treating it as new evidence the long-absent terrorist leader is still alive, a U.S. official familiar with the tape said Wednesday.

''It's probably his voice,'' said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. ''It cannot be said with absolute certainty.''

At the White House, President Bush told congressional leaders Wednesday the new audiotaped statement was ''timely,'' suggesting that bin Laden is alive, House Speaker Dennis Hastert told reporters.

Bush told the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate that the initial analysis was not definitive, Hastert said. A senior White House official said Bush had been told by advisers that the voice sounded like bin Laden, but that studies were still under way Wednesday to determine its authenticity.

''If they are authentic, certainly he has to be alive. But they're checking whether it's authentic or not,'' the Illinois Republican said.

A senior defense official said Wednesday analysts informed the Pentagon that a study of the tape indicates it is bin Laden's voice.

Technical analysis thus far by the CIA and National Security Agency shows bin Laden likely recording the tape, but officials said the full analysis to match bin Laden's voice to previous recordings of him continues.

''Assuming it is in fact authentic, it is an effort to boost morale among the rank and file,'' the official said. ''It is an effort to show members of al-Qaida that top leadership is still around. It could also signal future attacks.''

In the audiotape, aired Tuesday on Al-Jazeera, an Arabic television network, the speaker refers to recent terrorist strikes U.S. officials believe are connected to bin Laden's al-Qaida network. If verified, it would provide the first evidence in a year that bin Laden survived U.S. bombing in Afghanistan.

''I think there's a message here,'' Sen. Richard Shelby said on CBS' ''The Early Show.'' The Alabama Republican said, ''The message is, we better be looking closely now for more terrorist attacks.''

The audiotape was played alongside an old photograph of the al-Qaida leader, but there was no new video of him. Al-Jazeera said it received the tape on the day it was broadcast.

Officials believe bin Laden would release an audio recording, instead of a video, because they are easier to make and limit his public exposure, the U.S. official said. An audio tape also hides an appearance of illness, and anything bin Laden might have done to disguise himself in the last year.

Military officials, who have led the yearlong hunt for the al-Qaida chief in Afghanistan and elsewhere, said they view the tape as the first independent proof in nearly a year that bin Laden is alive.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld has said repeatedly over recent months that there was no conclusive proof that bin Laden was dead, as well as no conclusive proof he was alive.

''This indicates he is alive,'' one official said Wednesday.

The speaker on the tape also threatened new terrorism against the United States and its allies, and he castigated U.S. policy toward Iraq.

Confirmation that bin Laden is alive could pose problems for Bush, underscoring to an anxious public that the war on terrorism is far from over.

The tape is addressed to ''peoples of the countries allied with the tyrannical U.S. government'' and specifically mentions Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany, Australia and Israel, according to a U.S. government translation provided to The Associated Press.

''What business do your governments have to ally themselves with the gang of criminality in the White House against Muslims? Don't your governments know that the White House gang is the biggest serial killers in this age?'' the speaker says.

Recent statements from al-Qaida leaders have led U.S. and European leaders to warn of possible new attacks, particularly against railroads and oil and gas interests. A law enforcement official said Tuesday that ''chatter'' among suspected terrorists has reached the level seen before the Sept. 11 attacks.

The tape seems to have been made in the past two weeks. The speaker appears to refer to the killing of a U.S. diplomat in Amman, Jordan, on Oct. 28, the most recent event noted in the transcript. Whether bin Laden or al-Qaida had a direct hand in the attack is unknown, U.S. officials said.

The speaker also praises six terrorist attacks by suspected Islamic militants between April and October, including the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, on Oct. 12, that killed nearly 200 people, and the Chechen takeover of a theater in Moscow in late October.

The voice also gets personal, attacking not only Bush, but calling Rumsfeld ''the butcher of Vietnam'' and comparing Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell to marauding Mongols.

The last hard evidence bin Laden was alive surfaced late last year. A videotape recovered by U.S. forces in Afghanistan showed him having dinner with some of his deputies on Nov. 9, 2001.

Late in December, another tape of bin Laden giving a statement aired. He appeared gaunt and possibly wounded. The references in the tape suggested it was filmed in late November or early December, but officials could not be certain.

This is getting scary!! [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]

[CajunBabe]

HOW SICK!! There are some disturbed, sick fuckers in this world!!

[SEXY GRAMMA]

OMG!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S HORRIBLE!!! THEM BASTARDS!!!!! SHIT ,I HATE HEARING ABOUT STUFF LIKE THAT! [img]mad.gif[/img]

[SEXY GRAMMA]

YES CB, IT'S VERY SCARY!!!! IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE WORLD? SOMETIMES I WISH I NEVER HAD KIDS BECAUSE I AM SO SCARED FOR THEM! IT SURE PUTS A DAMPER ON THE HOLIDAYS. [img]frown.gif[/img]

[Shiva]

Ugh, hate these people.. REmember the terrorist attack in Bali? They should do it again lol.. not quite but anyway;
In Finland they have a freaky show of what people around the world actually eat (?). They went to Bali, where they filmed a group of locals catch a beautiful white dog, put him in a bag and then they brutally beat the poor dog to death!!!!!!! So CRUEL! Then the dog was skinned and eaten. The head of the dog was left as it was, and to disturb people's minds more one of the men grabbed the head of the dog, and just threw it in the river.
[img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]


One of the two reporters tasted the dog meat, and soon after puked it all up saying "it was horrible". Apparently that's how they kill their food in Bali; put them in a bag and beat them to death. [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/broken_heart.gif[/img]

[KandyKisses]

What is wrong with these people?! Besides the fact that they are fuckin' idiots!!! [img]mad.gif[/img] [img]mad.gif[/img]

[CajunBabe]

And people call southerners weird for eating squirrel and rabbit!! LOL!!

[LadyLove]

Last I heard they're 90% sure it's bin Laden's voice [img]frown.gif[/img]

NOW they have a new alert - they're saying possible targets between January and April might be hospitals in Houston, Chicago, Washington DC and one other - California I think? WTF is with the hospitals??? They suggested they might be referring to Anthrax or Smallpox to be used in these possible targets.

I hate this shit!!! [img]confused.gif[/img]

[CajunBabe]

Damn, this is too scary [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]
I wanna move to Canada!!! lol

[CajunBabe]

WASHINGTON (Nov. 14) - Lawmakers and the Bush administration worried that a new audio message believed to be from Osama bin Laden is a signal that more terror strikes are imminent, even as counterterrorism analysts scoured the recording for clues about al-Qaida's operations.

Some intelligence analysts have concluded the audiotape almost certainly was made by bin Laden, said a senior law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

``He's alive. We have to work on that assumption, and we are,'' the senior official said Wednesday.

Other U.S. officials were more conservative, saying they believe it probably came from bin Laden. They left open the possibility, however slight, that it is a hoax.

But all said they were treating the tape as a real message from al-Qaida's missing leader, even as the CIA and National Security Agency conducted a technical analysis of the tape aimed at further authenticating it.

``They can't get to 100 percent certainty, but they're sure,'' the law enforcement official said. The official, who participated in a high-level briefing by CIA and NSA officials, said analysts were trying to determine whether bin Laden placed cryptic messages in the recording to order followers into action.

President Bush said he was taking the message ``very seriously.''

``Whoever put the tape out has put the world on notice yet again that we're at war,'' the president said after a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

The president bristled when asked if bin Laden, blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks, should have been captured sooner by U.S. and coalition forces. ``We're making great progress in the war on terror. Slowly, but surely, we are dismantling the terrorist network,'' he said.

The tape appears to be the first confirmation in a year that bin Laden is alive.

The speaker on the tape sounds undeterred by the loss of bin Laden's home in what was Taliban-ruled Afghanistan or by the death and capture of several of his closest lieutenants.

``Why should fear, killing, destruction, displacement, orphaning and widowing continue to be our lot, while security, stability and happiness be your lot? This is unfair. It is time we get even,'' he says, sounding as if he is reading from a document.

The message, aired Tuesday on the Arabic television network al-Jazeera, appears aimed at both Westerners and al-Qaida loyalists, U.S. officials said.

``Assuming it is in fact authentic, it is an effort to boost morale among the rank and file,'' said one official familiar with the tape, speaking on condition of anonymity. ``It is an effort to show members of al-Qaida that the top leadership is still around. It could also signal future attacks.''

There was no change Wednesday in the national threat alert status, which remains at code yellow - the midway point on a scale of five threat levels. This reflects a lack of specific information about impending attacks, officials said.

``We've had increased chatter,'' said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. ``I think we'd better be watching for the next hit, probably in a soft place.''

Attorney General John Ashcroft said special attention is being paid to ``what might be signaled'' on the tape, while FBI Director Robert Mueller said the existence of the tape ``does and should put us on greater alert.''

``There may be individuals in the United States we do not know about who could commit attacks,'' Mueller said.

The recording appears to have been made during the past two weeks. The speaker appears to refer to the Oct. 28 shooting death of a U.S. diplomat in Amman, Jordan. U.S. officials don't know if al-Qaida conducted that attack. The speaker also praises the bombing in Bali, Indonesia, last month, that left nearly 200 people dead.

He also takes on issues that resonate in the Islamic world - the U.S. threat of war in Iraq and the ongoing violence between Israelis and Palestinians. He threatens six U.S. allies: Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Canada and Australia.

``We've seen lately that junior members have been able to fan out and effectively engage in terrorist operations not only in the Middle East, but in Southeast Asia and Europe,'' said Rep. Tim Roemer, D-Ind., a member of the House Intelligence Committee. ``If senior leadership is now intact, which this tape would indicate, we've got a bigger and growing problem.''

U.S. officials also noted that the tape mentions three top Bush administration officials by name: Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

``It personalizes things to a degree we hadn't seen before,'' one official said.

Officials suggested bin Laden would deliver his message by audio, rather than video, because an audiotape gives fewer clues to its origins. It also conceals any potential changes in bin Laden's appearance - either from injuries, illness or efforts at disguise.

Al-Jazeera reporter Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan said he received the recording in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, from an agent of the al-Qaida leader.

Counterterrorism officials have said that if bin Laden is alive, they believe he is probably in a remote, mountainous area of Pakistan along the country's border with Afghanistan. American officials have never confirmed rumors that bin Laden was wounded or suffering some kind of kidney ailment.