by
Rand Clifford
The new “Osama bin Laden tape” is an astonishing example of what the corporate media (CorpoMedia) feeds gullible Americans, as well as what gullible Americans are still swallowing after so many lies. Bin Laden has been front-page news for a week, spurring serious buzz over how much the man has changed. Beard trimmed and neatly dyed, he’s looking older in this videotape, but does not appear to be obviously ill. Dark circles beneath his eyes are more pronounced. Experts agree that his face is “visibly wizened.” The tape has been rushed into technical evaluation by U.S. intelligence analysts. Initial reviews lean toward verifying its authenticity. Bush took time out between gaffes in Australia to mutter “The tape is a reminder about the dangerous world in which we live. And it is a reminder that we must work together to protect...against these extremists who murder the innocent in order to achieve their political objectives.” Sunday, 9/9/07, front pages across the country declared: AL-QAIDA ALIVE, WELL...Osama bin Laden’s video demonstrates the resilience of his organization.
The “experts” know bin Laden is dead, so do the intelligence analysts, and everyone with any genuine knowledge of the situation—even Bush knows... Fox “News” ran, Wednesday, December 26, 2001, Report: Bin Laden Already Dead [1]. On Thursday, 18 July, 2002, the BBC: Bin Laden “probably” dead [2]. CNN.com followed their own story of Monday, October 7, 2002 about bin Laden’s death [3] with the Saturday, October 26, 2002: Magazine runs what it calls bin Laden’s will [4]. An excellent overview plus many more links can be found at the WHAT REALLY HAPPENED website [5].
Those who profit from pretending that Osama bin Laden is still alive, there’s the key. The mindless War On Terror gushes tax dollars to war profiteers in fantastic ways that Dick Cheney and the other neocons dreamt of when they released their plans for world domination, the Project for the New American Century [6]. This might be the most important read since the Constitution for citizens concerned with what is being done to America in this new century.
Vast ill-spent energies have created the Osama boogeyman. BushCo must shoulder responsibility for not having “gotten” bin Laden, but that’s nothing compared to the potential profits in keeping the boogeyman alive in the minds of Americans.
One might think that after such a tsunami of lies—9-11, plus three phony elections, our war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan...one might think that Americans would smarten up. And there has been some smartening, but now, Iran. The propaganda, the public conditioning, the nuclear attack on Iran—then what will we do? When will Americans be unable to swallow any more bullshit? For right now, hype and propaganda swirling around The New bin Laden Tape insists there is still ample room for bullshit; that it is not possible to overestimate the gullibility of the American herd. In this dangerous world in which we live, perhaps our own gullibility is the greatest peril we face.
[1] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41576,00.html
/>
[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2135473.stm
/>
[3] http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/10/06/karzai.binladen/
/>
[4] http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/10/26/binladen.will/
/>
[5] http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/osama_dead.html
/>
[6] http://www.newamericancentury.org/
/>
Rand Clifford is a novelist and essayist living in Spokane, Washington, with his wife Mary Ann, and their Chesapeake Bay retriever, Mink. His novels CASTLING and TIMING are published by StarChief Press: http://www.starchiefpress.com
/>
