Bin Laden Releases New Single, Offers 'Truce'

Osama's back. Guess he ain't dead after all. He released a hot new track, check out these fresh beats-

AP: Bin Laden Warns of Attacks, Offers Truce

Al-Jazeera on Thursday aired an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden, who says al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a truce "with fair conditions."...

...The voice on the tape said he was directing his message to the American people after polls showed that "an overwhelming majority of you want the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq but (Bush) opposed that desire."

He said insurgents were winning the conflict in Iraq and warned that security measures in the West and the United States could not prevent attacks there...

Sounds like he means business! Break out the duct tape, everyone!

And then there was the truce rhetoric...

..."We do not mind offering you a long-term truce with fair conditions that we adhere to," he said. "We are a nation that God has forbidden to lie and cheat. So both sides can enjoy security and stability under this truce so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan, which have been destroyed in this war.

"There is no shame in this solution, which prevents the wasting of billions of dollars that have gone to those with influence and merchants of war in America," he said...

The conservative blogosphere is creaming themselves over this latest development, tripping over each other in a mad rush to condemn liberals all over America (and making comparisons of Osama to said liberals) and use this tape as some sort of proof vindicating President Bush's erratic foreign policy. 'Look out libs, Osama's back to remind us how awesome Bush is!! Bad news Osama bin Howard Dean!11!!'. Contents of the tape aside for the moment, do conservatives really want to remind Americans that bin Laden is still on the loose, supposedly planning attacks? With congressional elections coming this year, perhaps they do want to play the 'terror' card again. That sort of fearmongering worked for them in 2002 and expect a repeat of the strategy this year.

The 'truce' talk is obviously the most discussed aspect of bin Laden's latest 'State of the Evil' address. I am not sure how seriously to take it, considering he also says "We are a nation that God has forbidden to lie and cheat" in all seriousness.

It seems clear to me he is not actually offering a 'truce' (c'mon, people); he knows the only common ground between both sides is that each wants the other destroyed. It just comes off more political (ie. not addressed to the American people, whom he loathes, but at the Muslim population to play off growing anti-U.S. anger and make him appear to be the reasonable party in this conflict) than any specific fear of defeat. If it a sign of a weakened Al Qeada... then, hey, that's great! No complaints there. Still, I contend this comes off as a half-smirk baiting of the U.S. which is not being ignored by Americans (liberal or conservative, we all want bin Laden captured or killed, like, yesterday), but you can bet this will be used by the administration to rejustify everything they've done in the last four years (warrantless wiretaps, Iraq, etc.) and increase the amount of 9/11 references in the President's speeches by 43.8%.

So I do hope this is an indicator of Osama's desperation, and I hope that we're on a path to some clear victories against Al Qeada, but (as I said in my Iran post last night) this administration has not behaved in a way that should lead us to trust them. In particular, I don't like the fact this new development could be used to further silence the President's legitimate critics here at home.

And so the story continues...