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>ath-Thawra > >Official newspaper of the Arab Baath Socialist Party -- Iraq > >Baghdad, Sunday 16 December 2001. > >Issues and Opinions: The Alleged Video Tape: what America gains and >loses from it. > >By Adnan Shihab Hamad > >THE American information agencies, using their well known channels, >have bestowed on us a new tumultuous commotion concerning the >American army's discovery in Afghanistan of a video tape that >recorded Osama Bin Laden discussing something related to the events >that occurred on the 11th of September this year in the United >States of America. > >First of all, and before I deal with what I want to deal with in >this article, I want to explain that I am not going to deny the >truth or exactness of what appears on the tape or the exactness or >truth of the existence of the tape itself, despite my own >convictions regarding this commotion and these claims. Thus, I will >suppose that the existence of the tape is a fact and that what >appears in it is exactly correct in order that I might discuss this >topic from the angle that I want to deal with and only for the sake >of argument. > >America aroused the world at the beginning of these events when it >said that it had sufficient proof to convict Osama bin Laden and his >organization of the events that took place on 11 September. It >activated its diplomatic and intelligence agencies in an >extraordinary way to send envoys and agents to deliver a message to >many of the world's countries in an effort to convince them to >convict and, based on that to convince them of the legitimacy of the >military action that America intended to under take on that basis. >In other words, that meant, from the American standpoint, that its >agencies were able to get at the facts about, and persons who were >responsible for, the 11 September events. This means, if American >claims are true, that a search for additional proof was unnecessary, >particularly since America considered the proofs it already had were >so definitive and irrefutable that it actually launched its >aggression relying on those claims and using those proofs as >justification. > >Let us return to the subject of the video and the happy way that the >news was presented and the surprising way that its contents were >presented. In the light of the video, America claimed that its >military action was proven correct and appropriate as it claimed, >because the video represented a proof that Osama bin Laden and his >organization were responsible for the events of September. > > > >SO, was America lying when it first made its claims, before it had >found the video? Did it in fact have no proof then? Is its >aggression thus a double indictment for America, first for its >aggression against an innocent people, and secondly for its not >having any proof to justify for that aggression? Of course, even if >it had proof in fact, it would still have been possible for it to >deal with the problem on the basis of the existing international >laws, regulations, and agreements that govern the treatment of such >events. But on the other hand, what if America was truthful from the >beginning? In which case it had no need of the additional proofs or >of the sideshow antics connected with the discovery of the tape, the >way the news was presented, and then regarding its contents. Is it >appropriate for a "great" power, with a "powerful" army, possessed >of the "most modern" technical services to get involved in this type >of show business? Who will affirm that the US is telling the truth >this time when they were lying the first time? What keeps someone >who has already lied from lying yet again? > >Thus this latest effort works to the detriment of America and not in >its favor and leads one to condemn America and not take it seriously. > >These facts point to an important matter. It behooves the world to >be wary of America's claims and its actions that are based on those >clams because, as events have demonstrated, it is not truthful but >is, rather, stumbling about. Such American actions cannot be put >down as plusses but rather as minuses. They constitute a clear >indictment of the aggressive actions that it is committing or >intends to commit as we hear from time to time. ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
