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Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive?

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OSAMA BIN LADEN: DEAD OR ALIVE? by David Ray Griffin is a crucially important and timely examination of the whole range of evidence bearing on the question, is Osama bin Laden still alive? The importance of this question for the present comes from the fact that the United States under its new president is escalating its offensive in Afghanistan and expanding the war into Pakistan, and has claimed that the "hunt for bin Laden" is one of its principal motivations for doing so. Either explicitly or implicitly, the US government and major media outlets such as the New York Times and Washington Post continue to assert that bin Laden is alive, hiding in the tribal territories on the "AfPak" border, posing an undiminished threat to US security.

In his gripping new book, Griffin strikes at the root of this pretext for war by closely examining all the evidence that has come out since September 11, 2001, either indicating that bin Laden is still alive or that he is in fact dead. His conclusion is that bin Laden is certainly dead, and that in all likelihood he died in very late 2001. Griffin shows that many US experts in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency came to this very same conclusion long ago, but their views, which do not support the continuation of what President Obama, borrowing the term from Dick Cheney, calls "the long war," have received very little media attention. Were they to do so, one of the main props for the war regime would be undermined.

In Chapter 1, "Evidence that Osama bin Laden is Dead", Griffin surveys in detail the many different indications published in the major media in late 2001 and early 2002 that bin Laden had been very ill and had died. These included a December, 2001 video in which he appeared to be at death's door (as admitted by a Bush administration spokesperson), analyses by medical experts of the grave state of his health, the sudden and total cessation in December, 2001 of any surveillance intercepts of communications from him, and even reports of his funeral. In this early period, various high-level officials in the US and Pakistani governments, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President Pervez Musharraf, speculated that he was dead. By mid-2002 many experts had concluded that he was dead, including FBI counterterrorism official Dale Watson, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and Israeli intelligence officials. The conviction that he died in 2001 is held today by former intelligence operatives Robert Baer and Angelo Codevilla.

In Chapter 2, "Two Fake bin Laden Videos in 2001?", Griffin shows that two videos which purportedly showed bin Laden taking credit for the attacks of 9/11 and thus established his guilt for them, were not only very conveniently timed for the Bush and Blair administrations' legislative and military agendas, but also were highly suspect for other reasons. One of them was never actually released, but simply claimed by the Blair government. The other showed a bin Laden who did not physically resemble the genuine bin Laden of earlier videos, in which he in fact denied responsibility for the 9/11 attacks. Griffin presents strong arguments that both claimed videos were faked, suggests likely motivations behind such a risky undertaking, and cites the opinions of experts (including the FBI) who came to this conclusion long ago.

In Chapter 3, "Purported bin Laden Messages After 2001", Griffin argues that if fake bin Laden videos were produced in this early period, when he was probably still alive, then there is even stronger reason to be suspicious of "bin Laden videos" or other claimed "messages" that were released later, after all communications intercepts from him had ceased and many experts had concluded that he was dead. Yet, in subsequent years, a long series of such dubious "bin Laden messages" were released. Griffin presents an exhaustive survey of 19 of these, from an "email message" of March, 2002 to the "bin Laden audiotape" of January 14, 2009. For each and every one, Griffin identifies key indications of fakery or strong reasons to be suspicious of its authenticity. In the course of the discussion of the messages, he establishes that the technical capability to fabricate fake messages of the different types already existed.

In Chapter 4, Griffin turns to the important question "Who Might Have Been Motivated To Fabricate Messages?" He shows that the US military in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 employed a psychological operations unit to produce bogus evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, as a pretext for the invasion. The psyops unit produced a "letter" from a Jordanian in Iraq, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, that was then "intercepted", purportedly enroute to Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. The psyop was advanced after the invasion by the New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins, who wrote front-page stories presenting the "evidence" as genuine. Journalists at other organizations, including Newsweek magazine and The Telegraph of London, however, thought it highly likely at the time that the letter was bogus. Griffin concludes that the target of the psychological operation was the US public. He asks, could something very similar have been going on with the "bin Laden messages"? Does the US government desire to expand its war operations anywhere, say into the precise places it claims bin Laden is still living in? Based on the evidence Griffin presents, there is no reason to assume that comparable psyops would not be utilized to achieve this goal.

In Chapter 5, "The Convenient Timing of Many of the Messages", Griffin shows that another reason to suspect the inauthenticity of the "bin Laden messages" is that they frequently were released at key moments when they would benefit the Bush administration in the pursuit of particular objectives. In other words, the "messages" were almost always objectively detrimental to the enemies of the US, and beneficial to the Bush administration or the Blair government. Griffin lists 11 specific instances of this unusual characteristic of the "messages."

OSAMA BIN LADEN: DEAD OR ALIVE? by David Ray Griffin is a book to rally around - that is, a basis on which we can mobilize and organize resistance to yet another incalculably bloody war of aggression by the predatory military-industrial-financial elite that runs this country, and is running it into the abyss. Griffin has placed a strong weapon of truth in our hands with which to stop the brutal war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Let's use it!

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just"

--Thomas Jefferson

When you can no longer trust mainstream media for the truth (and at this juncture one cannot) it is reassuring to know that there are independent and highly virtuous researchers who will independently seek out the facts. David Ray Griffin has meticulously documented how we were lied to time and time again in the events leading to war -- WMD? -- Please! How many children died because of such lies?

He now focuses on further research that is also crucial in its nature, fundamental to Democracy, and of great import to anyone seeking truth.

The implications would be enormous.

But how could a regularly appearing, living legend be dead?

This little book begins by taking us back to the long-forgotten news reports of 2001, resurrecting the media confusion about the status of bin Laden's health, and uncovering reports of his death in December, 2001. At that time, even the White House was indicating that bin Laden might be dead.

If bin Laden died in 2001, it would mean that all his subsequent communications were bogus. If, on the other hand, the communications were not bogus, then the early reports of his death would have to be discounted as incorrect.

"Dead or Alive" is a quest to settle this issue. In a tightly knit, logically structured approach, Prof. Griffin provides an in-depth analysis of most of the purported OBL messages from 2001 to January 2009.

As the reader reviews these 19 communications in one or two sittings -- rather than over a period of nearly 8 years -- many strange discrepancies come to light.

For example, there is the problem of an early and ailing OBL, white-haired, with a limp left arm, and apparently close to death - reversing, within a period of weeks, into a vibrant, robust, black-beared figure on November 9, 2001, and confessing to the events of September 11th.

Closely examined, the later, robust figure, can be seen to have a broader nose, a wider face, and shorter and thicker fingers, than the earlier figure. And the November 9th figure wrote briefly with his right hand, whereas OBL was known to be left-handed.

Later communications also reveal a change in the pattern in bin Laden's use of Muslim religious language and ideas.

In addition to the broadcast messages from OBL, many press reports on both sides of the Atlantic are compared and contrasted. At times the press, particularly on the European side, mocked the video discrepancies, and experts consulted about authenticity were frankly dismayed by the bogus broadcasts.

Given the fact that no communications to or from OBL had been intercepted since 2001, a National Security Council member concluded in 2007 that "the only proof US Intelligence has that bin Laden is even alive are his own videos." However, because many of these videos used old footage, and did not conform to one another in important ways, there is seemingly no available proof that OBL is still alive.

Failing to find proof, Prof. Griffin turns to the question of who might have been motivated to fabricate these messages. Section Four uncovers damning evidence of US military intelligence agencies illegally issuing "strategic communications" from Iraq to spread propaganda to the "home audience". Griffin explains: "The aim was to bolster support for the US military effort in Iraq by portraying it as the US response to 9/11...If the American public were to become convinced that bin Laden is dead, support for this effort would surely dry up."

The timing of the OBL messages also points to fabrication: 11 of the 19 messages were aired at critical times when public opinion could make or break the Bush administration's foreign policy or election results.

Griffin concludes with a compelling 10-point summary that OBL is almost certainly dead, and by quoting CIA agent Robert Baer, that "this could be an eternal war if the goal is to capture this man dead or alive".

A war that might suit vested interests in the Middle East.

In the final analysis, there is no escaping the logic that if OBL is dead, the need to hunt him, which has been underlined by influential US voices in recent months (e.g. Rachel Maddow and Zbigniew Brzezinski Discuss the Future of Afghanistan, Feb. 18, 2009), must now be considered irrelevant.

And that leads to a critical question that is left to the reader to ask: If it is still so important to hunt OBL, how will policy in Afghanistan and Iraq change now that it has been demonstrated he is probably dead?

For the key to this morning's (03 June 09) manufactured "news," which takes the Jack-O'-Lantern out of the closet once again to scare the kiddies, turn off the TV and read this short book by the dean of 9/11 debunking, David Ray Griffin. Obama needs "anti-terror" creds (i.e. a pretext for extending the American empire), and the latest phoney "message" fills the bill.

In a succinct 82 page book, David Ray Griffin presents clear summary evidence of the manipulation of public opinion through the myth of Osama Bin Laden as mastermind and orchestrator of the September 11th attacks.

Since September 11th when the media began beating the drums for war, I have been strongly skeptical of the "evidence" thrown at the American people. At the same time, I have actively championed questioning the official story, demanding an investigation into 9/11 and witnessed the cover-up and lies. In March 2004, I organized the San Francisco International Inquiry into 9/11, trying to present the best evidence and questions raised by citizens challenging the official narrative and the "cover-up comission" that was still in progress, when David Ray Griffin came out with his first 9/11 book: The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11. At the time, Griffin's book was one of the best on the topic, and we invited him to speak at the San Francisco Inquiry. He was too modest and shy to attend the event where many of the pioneering researchers gathered, including Nafeez Ahmed, Paul Thompson, Daniel Hopsicker, Barrie Zwicker, Michael Ruppert.

Prior to the subsequent Toronto Citizens International Inquiry into 9/11 in May 2004, we held a press conference in San Francisco and I remember getting a phone call from Stanley Hilton, a lawyer who had filed a lawsuit against the Bush Administration over 9/11, the PATRIOT Act, the "the War on Terror" who wanted to speak at the press conference to say that Osama Bin Laden was "dead." I had my doubts about Hilton and his claim, and did not allow him to speak at the press conference. As a grassroots activist with no staff, funding, I didn't have the resources, nor the time to check out Hilton's claim (which I hadn't heard before) and his evidence, particularly the day before the press conference.

Now, years later, through the efforts of many, many researchers, there are mountains and mountains of evidence shredding the official narrative of 9/11. One of the clearest, rational, careful, credible author and speaker on the topic is David Ray Griffin who is able to separate the wheat from the chaff. The most damning information on the events of 9/11 often comes from the highest government officials in the form of contradictory statements, evidence that they have deliberately lied to the public. Griffin has skillfully been able to identify the contradictory statements concerning Osama Bin Laden and how, with the assistance of the media, misperceptions have been used to manipulate public opinion at critical times, not just by the Bush Administration, but the latest Administration which has sought to revive and expand its military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, perpetuating, rather than shattering the 9/11 myth.

If we are ever to reclaim our government, hold it accountable and redirect its path in service of people, truth, justice, we must explore the taboo questions that Grffin has raised, expose the contradictions, and challenge wars based on faulty assumptions.

For those who may never have questioned the official narrative, this book may be the easiest, shortest starting point.

Thank you, Dr. Griffin, for this informative and important analysis. Your meticulous research and level-headed, logical approach to your findings make it perfectly clear that Osama bin Laden is no more. Any attempt to show us "proof" that he is still alive should immediately be rejected as propaganda, either created by the government itself or by its henchmen. You have without doubt made the lives of those individuals a lot harder. Everyone should read not only this book, but all your others so as to be able to see through the smoke screen the government continues to put up regarding 9/11. Thank you for all you have done.

David Ray Griffin's scholarship and his ability to make a clear case make this slim book worth reading as a case study in how the Bush White House tried to bamboozle the public into believing the Osama Boogey-Man Laden lurked in every corner. Griffin gathers evidence to prove that Bin Laden most likely died around December 2001 during an American bombardment and that his subsequent appearances on video have been hoaxes. This little book is definitely worth reading!

We all owe Dr. David Ray Griffin a debt of gratitude greater than to anyone else in our lifetime. He has doggedly, patiently, uncompromisingly researched and impeccably reasoned his way past all the roadbocks laid down by all of our highest authorities and bought-and-paid-for "news" media like no one else, on every major aspect of the unspeakable 9/11 crimes, and now on the life status of their designated (but unindicted) boogy man, Osama bin Laden. That this potent volume has not been reviewed or discussed, or even its existence acknowledged, in any mainstream media outlet, speaks volumes. It's undiscussable because its conclusions are demonstrably and convincingly true, and the authorities can never admit that they have ardently perpetuated another big lie for the past eight years, along with and part and parcel of the massive lie of the sophistocated and technically complex and daunting mass crimes of 9/11, as perpetrated and carried out by a small handful of woeful Arabs, itself. Now, to bring the certainty of the essential truth of Dr. Griffin's overall revelation into the full public consciousnes and conventional understanding! Only thus can we recover a people's government in this country!

MUST READ, especially 'Highly Recommended' link.

I sent this link to Dr. Griffin months ago. I hope he took note of this information for his new book.

... a short work he intends to call "Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive," will address the current whereabouts of the U.S. State Department's poster boy for worldwide terrorism. But in a humorous description of the contents, not uncharacteristic of many of the interesting anecdotes he told during his address, Griffin said he believes he has the answer to what happened to Bin Laden. "One little hint," he said, "was provided by the funeral announcement on December Fifteenth (2001)," a statement that drew laughter from the audience. Griffin also noted that after December 13, the CIA, which had been monitoring Bin Laden's cell phone communications, did not intercept a single call. Griffin said his new book would also discuss the various videos that have surfaced since then purporting to be of Bin Laden, and would show that they lacked demonstrable authenticity, and in some cases, were "obviously fakes."

[...]

"This book is part of a growing body of non-fiction that illuminates the cataclysmic gap between those with power, who do as they please, and those with knowledge, who are not heard. At least 80% of what is done `in our name' with our tax dollars is wasteful, lacks intellectual integrity, and does great harm to humanity both at home and abroad. Unless President Obama breaks out of the closed circle of power to connect with the kind of independent knowledge found in this book, he will remain a captive `front' for the Empire Enterprise."

Above is the jacket blurb I provided after reading the galley copy, and it disappoints me that the publisher has not done a better job of sharing information with prospective buyers using all the tools that Amazon provides.

935 lies, 25 high crimes and misdemeanors, all documented, all led by Dick Cheney, the most nakedly amoral man--and the most powerful--ever to dominate a White House, a Congress, and the abuse of all that could be done "in our name."

When combined with the massive cover-up of 9-11, a pre-planned cover-up that included nine nations warning us in advance, Dick Cheney scheduling a nation-wide exercise that put him personally "in control" of the entire US Government and the US military specifically (wisely putting his command center on the piers in NYC as he knew in advance that the city's command center in WTC would not be usable), with Rudy Guliani all ready with pre-ordered trucks to "scoop and dump" the crime scene to the point that firefighters rioted--the mind just spins at the separation of the public from its government, of the political arm of government from reality, and of both the political and professional arms of government from ethics.

I will list just six other titles here, one each on 9-11, the Kennedy assassination, and the King assassination, and three that I have sponsored, the latter three free online but also here at Amazon in hard-copy.

9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition
An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King, New and Updated Edition
Someone Would Have Talked: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Conspiracy to Mislead History

Election 2008: Lipstick on the Pig (Substance of Governance; Legitimate Grievances; Candidates on the Issues; Balanced Budget 101; Call to Arms: Fund We Not Them; Annotated Bibliography)
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political--Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption

A people who mean to govern themselves must arms themselves with information. A Republic if you can keep it. A Nation's best defense is an educated citizenry. Madison, Franklin, and Jefferson, all turning in their graves over Dick Cheeny and the two-party crime system we allow.

Adding four more titles:
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back