The tape released Tuesday containing what is apparently Osama bin Laden’s voice has fueled, rather than settled, two long-running arguments: Is he alive? Is he in cahoots with Iraq? The Al-Jazeera satellite television station aired the message throughout the Arab world Tuesday. U.S. counter-terrorism officials in Washington said the audio tape was probably a real recording of bin Laden, and that a technical analysis was planned to authenticate it. Since U.S. forces apparently had bin Laden cornered in the Afghanistan’s Tora Bora mountain range in late 2001, his whereabouts have been unknown. On Wednesday, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan said the taped threats would not affect efforts to track down al Qaeda remnants there. Lt. Gen. Dan McNeill also said he saw no reason to change security at Bagram Air Base, the headquarters for troops in Afghanistan. “This to me is still not compelling evidence that he’s alive nor is it compelling evidence that he’s dead,” McNeill said. “We are winning this thing and we are going to win it and whatever he might want to utter on tape causes me no great concern,” McNeill said. Full Story
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