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[Cool]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/01/binladen.tape/index.html

(CNN) -- The Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera released a full transcript Monday of the most recent videotape from Osama bin Laden in which the head of al Qaeda said his group's goal is to force America into bankruptcy.

Al-Jazeera aired portions of the videotape Friday but released the full transcript of the entire tape on its Web site Monday.

"We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy. Allah willing, and nothing is too great for Allah," bin Laden said in the transcript.

He said the mujahedeen fighters did the same thing to the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, "using guerrilla warfare and the war of attrition to fight tyrannical superpowers."

"We, alongside the mujahedeen, bled Russia for 10 years until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat," bin Laden said.

He also said al Qaeda has found it "easy for us to provoke and bait this administration."

"All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without their achieving anything of note other than some benefits for their private corporations," bin Laden said.

Al-Jazeera executives said they decided to post the entire speech because rumors were circulating that the network omitted parts that "had direct threats toward specific states, which was totally untrue."

"We chose the most newsworthy parts of the address and aired them. The rest was used in lower thirds in graphics format," said one official.

U.S. intelligence officials Monday confirmed that the transcript made public Monday by Al-Jazeera was a complete one.

As part of the "bleed-until-bankruptcy plan," bin Laden cited a British estimate that it cost al Qaeda about $500,000 to carry out the attacks of September 11, 2001, an amount that he said paled in comparison with the costs incurred by the United States.

"Every dollar of al Qaeda defeated a million dollars, by the permission of Allah, besides the loss of a huge number of jobs," he said. "As for the economic deficit, it has reached record astronomical numbers estimated to total more than a trillion dollars.

The total U.S. national debt is more than $7 trillion. The U.S. federal deficit was $413 billion in 2004, according to the Treasury Department.

"It is true that this shows that al Qaeda has gained, but on the other hand it shows that the Bush administration has also gained, something that anyone who looks at the size of the contracts acquired by the shady Bush administration-linked mega-corporations, like Halliburton and its kind, will be convinced.

"And it all shows that the real loser is you," he said. "It is the American people and their economy."

As for President Bush's Iraq policy, Bin Laden said, "the darkness of black gold blurred his vision and insight, and he gave priority to private interests over the public interests of America.

"So the war went ahead, the death toll rose, the American economy bled, and Bush became embroiled in the swamps of Iraq that threaten his future," bin Laden said.

U.S. government officials said Friday that the tape appeared to be authentic and recently made. It was the first videotaped message from the al Qaeda leader in nearly three years.

At the going rate, his dream may come true.</semi sarcasam>

 

[AirBrian]

U.S. government officials said Friday that the tape appeared to be authentic and recently made. It was the first videotaped message from the al Qaeda leader in nearly three years.

Huh?

 

[DarienA]

US officials can do that without outside help.

 

[The Bookerman]

America going backrupt could be a good thing and a bad thing.

But killing people in the process is a retarded thing.

 

[Cool]

Huh?

Yeah, I know, I thought it was "nearly" two years?

 

[mrmyth]

Huh?

Haven't the other tapes been audio only?

 

[AirBrian]

I thought there was a video tape early last year -- I guess I'm thinking wrong. Maybe they have been audio-only...

December 13th, 2001 was the last video? Damn, time flies by!

 

[robochimp]

nevermind

 

[Cool]

I thought there was a video tape early last year -- I guess I'm thinking wrong. Maybe they have been audio-only...

December 13th, 2001 was the last video? Damn, time flies by!

That doesn't seem right. That means there have been no videos since like 3 months after September 11? I was thinking atleast there was one in 2002?

 

[Cool]

If you read the full transcript he says they will bankrupt the US like they(The Mujahadeen) did the Soviet Union

They bankrupt us, then what? Do they have an ultimate motive?

 

[gblues]

Oh yeah, the mujahadeen made Russia bankrupt. It had nothing to do with failed communism, mass poverty, and corrupt politicians. It was TEH TERRORISTS!

Nathan

 

[Lane_Myer]

how much have we spent on the war already? now multiply that by 10 and i see that being a major dent in our economy. will we forclose to canada or mexico? no. but it would still limit our abilities to fight by not giving our troops the right equipment like radios, armored hummers, etc. oh wait...thats now.

 

[Matlock]

Too late! America is already morally and creatively bankrupt!

 

[Minotauro]

He also said al Qaeda has found it "easy for us to provoke and bait this administration."

"All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without their achieving anything of note other than some benefits for their private corporations," bin Laden said.

Jesus Christ, this man is astute.

 

[Iceman]

okay.. because bin laden wants to start up little fires all over the world for an extended period of time we will be powerless to continue sending a huge military response everywhere there may be a chicken little situation?

Of course.. we are complete tools and automatons. We can't possibly evaluate and reevaluate our responses in order to suitably address the situation over time right?

Man, I hate being this sarcastic...

what a completely juvenile scheme. That wouldn't work on a two year old.

 

[mrmyth]

what a completely juvenile scheme. That wouldn't work on a two year old.

Real age or emotional maturity?

 

[Zaptruder]

This man... knows the true power of terrorism, more so than 99% of the west.

 

[Matlock]

what a completely juvenile scheme. That wouldn't work on a two year old.

Yes, but Bush is no two year old.

 

[Cimarron]

Where can I find a complete transcript of his speech.

 

[ravingloon]

America going backrupt could be a good thing and a bad thing.

But killing people in the process is a retarded thing.

I don't know where your from. Whether you're just young and dumb, or a non-U.S. citizen with an agenda. But if the U.S. is bankrupt, the entire western civilization is bankrupt. Fact. And considering GA is mainly a videogame site, it would mean the end of gaming too.

 

[yoshifumi]

we could just mug canada if we run out of money

 

[Azih]

well Iceman if OBL manages to convince a the Bush administration that the Iranian government is in cahoots with him, do you really doubt there will be a call to war? Hell Iran for one is convinced that they're next on the hit list and it's far from ridiculous to think that the GWBush administration wouldn't eventaully want to pre-emptively strike Iran as well. I mean consider the scenario that Al-Qaeda manages to strike again. It doesn't even have to be spectacular, it just has to be say... blowing up a crowded subway station, or carrying out say a dozen minor explosions in office buildings (and preventing small explosions like this is nearly impossible. Just ask Londoners about the NRA in the bad old days). Then they claim responsibilty, and the dogs of war will march again even though Afghanistan is still a mess and Iraq is far from stablised. Now there are three hugely expensive fronts, instead of two. The huge blow to the American psyche has been caused in 9/11 ALL that's needed now to keep a paranoid and fearful America on an insanely costly war footing is reminders of the event on home soil. As a side effect America is distracted from what they should really be concentrating on, which is holding off the Chinese efforts at displacing America as *the* economic power of the planet.

I mean so far Al-Qaeda has gotten America to invade Afghanistan, and Iraq. Have they suffered? sure, immensely, quite a few of their operatives and agents have been killed and captured, but their recruitment pool has grown by leaps and bounds and America has suffered quite a bit as well (in terms of millitary casualties and financial debt). And if you take a look at the suicide bomber mentality that grips so much of the extremist Muslim world, causing yourself extreme damage is acceptable as long as you cause significant damage to the enemy at the same time.

If you look at it that way then embroiling the American machine in Afghanistan like situations (which Iraq is), and letting it bleed slowly to weaken it is a scarily good guriella tactic. It's not foolproof by any means, but the neocons are more than willing to rush headlong into areas and do most of the legwork for the plan themselves. (Not using enough troops in the Iraqi invasion, obliterating the Iraqi Army and police strucutres right after taking control instead of using them to pacify, Hell invading Iraq in the first place and taking off the focus on the Afghani/Pakistani border where the Taliban still have strength.)

 

[Azih]

I don't know where your from. Whether you're just young and dumb, or a non-U.S. citizen with an agenda. But if the U.S. is bankrupt, the entire western civilization is bankrupt. Fact. And considering GA is mainly a videogame site, it would mean the end of gaming too.

America going into an economic talespin would be a disaster yes, but the other regions of the world would be able to compensate and eventually benefit (China, EU, India etc.).

 

[Xenon]

So let me get this straight. I've been reading post after post about how OBL had no connections to Saddam. How the Bush administration lied about connections and used 911 to attack Iraq to get their oil. How they knowingly used false intelligence to deceive us and create a diversion.

Now you’re saying OBL is some great mastermind who made Bush and his boys believe he was in cahoots with Saddam and now he will do the same with Iran.....

I love how you bend the facts to fit the theory of the day "of why the Bush administration sucks"

So which is it? Did Bush lie or was he tricked?

 

[Fatghost]

As a side effect America is distracted from what they should really be concentrating on, which is holding off the Chinese efforts at displacing America as *the* economic power of the planet.

When China becomes the world's economic super power, I'm going to make so much fucking money.

I can't wait.

 

[Azih]

So let me get this straight. I've been reading post after post about how OBL had no connections to Saddam. How the Bush administration lied about connections and used 911 to attack Iraq to get their oil. How they knowingly used false intelligence to deceive us and create a diversion.

Now you’re saying OBL is some great mastermind who made Bush and his boys believe he was in cahoots with Saddam and now he will do the same with Iran.....

I love how you bend the facts to fit the theory of the day "of why the Bush administration sucks"

So which is it? Did Bush lie or was he tricked?

Actually you're right. I shouldn't have said that OBL would manage to convince Iran is in cahoots with him at all, because really the only thing more ridiculous than Iran helping Al-Qaeda, is Iraq helping Al-Qaeda. OBL's plan can't have extended to Iraq, it must have been to get America to come to Afghanistan and then attempt a repeat of what happened when Russia invaded Afghanistan. His plan only extended to creating a quagmire in Afghanistan, which wasn't working out too well. And so yup I'm retracting the

Al-Qaeda has gotten America to invade Afghanistan, and Iraq.

statement. Bin Laden did get America to invade Afghanistan, invading Iraq is something that America did all on it's own.

Bin Laden's plan of creating a new Vietnam in Afghanistan was on the rocks, but the neocons did it for him by going into Iraq. And in the face of the GWBush administration reaction of 'let's attack something' (an administration unaffected by neocon influence wouldn't even have considered going into Iraq), all Al-Qaeda has to do is attack again and the administration might convince itself that Iran has to go down. Or even if the administration doesn't attack another country, it'll attack *something* in the muslim world that will keep America's finances in disarray and increase Al-Qaeda stature and recruitment.

Really, OBL wants America to attack muslim regions and so do the neocons. They've got the same aim in mind. And this unexpected ally has done things that OBL would not have been able to do at all (invasion of Iraq).

 

[Iceman]

Hey if that's where the terrorists are hiding....

 

[Azih]

Eh, as you wish.

 

[MetatronM]

Unfortunately for Bin Laden, we can run inifinite deficits, thereby making it impossible to bankrupt the US. It's true, there is an ever-flowing money well under the Reflecting Pool.

 

[Guileless]

I remember right before the Afghan War stared, Mullah Omar released a statement saying that they would defeat and bring down the US like they did the Soviet Union. Nice call Omar.

 

[FightyF]

Of course.. we are complete tools and automatons. We can't possibly evaluate and reevaluate our responses in order to suitably address the situation over time right?

Man, I hate being this sarcastic...

"All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without their achieving anything of note other than some benefits for their private corporations," bin Laden said.

Hey if that's where the terrorists are hiding....

*******ROFLMAO*******

I remember right before the Afghan War stared, Mullah Omar released a statement saying that they would defeat and bring down the US like they did the Soviet Union. Nice call Omar.

The same Mullah Omar said he would hand over OBL after a week of bombing, to which Dubya replied it was "non-negotiable". Nice call George.

You can take these threats lightly...you wouldn't be the only one...I mean a certain President did on an August morning. But answer me this, did 9/11 surprise or shock you? If so...do remember a tape was released 3 years prior declaring war on the US. Or did you not treat it that seriously either?

 

[Guileless]

*******ROFLMAO*******



The same Mullah Omar said he would hand over OBL after a week of bombing, to which Dubya replied it was "non-negotiable". Nice call George.

What are you talking about?

 

[thefit]

We don't need any help just 4 more years of Bush woopdeeeedooooooo!!!!