CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson obtained the tapes from a source in Afghanistan, following a 17-hour drive from Kabul through treacherous terrain to a remote part of the war-torn country. According to the source, the tapes had been found in an Afghan house where bin Laden had stayed. I like how CNN was able to get this stuff instead of the CIA or FBI or whatever. Perhaps we should put them in charge of tracking down OBL?
Point made, CNN, point made. I have seen that puppy die a horrible death at least 10 times today. God it sucks to have CNN on 15 TVs everywhere in your office. I'm going home to play with my dog and give him some of my steak.
I don't really think that CNN is that ingenius. Don't you think they are allowed close for propoganda attempts?
I don't really think that CNN is that ingenius. Don't you think they are allowed close for propoganda attempts? I'm not sure what you're referring to? from the article: "The collection has al Qaeda videos taken by al Qaeda of events," Gunaratna said. "Whenever Osama bin Laden met with foreign journalists, he always had his own cameraman. And it is those tapes that are there, because that itself shows that this is the al Qaeda library. This is not the library of someone else ... This is their history, the record room of Osama bin Laden." ... Some of the tapes are video training manuals for terrorists, much different from the al Qaeda promotional videos that have been released in the past. ... The sources said no intelligence agency is known to have previously seen most of these tapes.
I thought you were complimenting CNN on their hunting down of this video info... just as you posed the thought that you thought we might need to put them in charge of hunting down OBL...
I thought you were complimenting CNN on their hunting down of this video info... I was. CNN managed to get this stuff which intelligence sources apparently think is very important (maybe the first real evidence that Al Queda does have access to chemical weapons) off of inside sources - while the CIA and other intelligence agencies couldn't. When a news agency scoops an intelligence agency that is basically working around the clock with all their energy on getting information like this, I think that's kinda neat (or sad, depending on your viewpoint).
Unfortunately, Jeff is right. CNN can pay the right people the sums they want, and the CIA, FBI, and DIA cannot (limited budgets). This is a serious problem in the intel community... It is often jokingly said that CNN is the finest intelligence-gathering source on the planet. That may not be a joke. Also, Al Qaeda (and many other terrorist organizations - Hamas and Islamic Jihad come to mind) appears to trust CNN almost as much as they trust Al Jazeera. Perhaps there's a reason why the Israeli public has decided to force the Israeli networks to stop broadcasting CNN? (CNN is getting booted from Israel, by popular demand) Can you say "biased"? What really bothers me, though, is that apparently no one at CNN (or MSNBC or FOX either, for that matter) called up the CIA and said "Hey guys, we just got these tapes you might want to check out... Wanna look at them before we air them? They are conclusive proof that Al Qaeda has experimented with chemical weapons... Do you want us to air them?" Don't the programming directors at these networks - American networks - have any patriotic blood in their bodies? Yeah, to hell with national security - if it will boost ratings, we'll air it no matter what... That really bothers me. More accurately, it makes me sick to think that these guys would put a buck before an American's life - people could die because of intelligence leaks like this... No, not because of this one, but there is a pattern. Sickening.
I'd love to contribute to this discussion, but I couldn't even get past the fact that they experimented on a dog...I couldn't read any further. If I see the footage I'm going to be REALLY upset.
