The Guardian reported that the speaker on the tape, thought by some to be Osama bin Laden, insults Saddam's regeim:

“The speaker urged Iraqis to carry out suicide attacks against Americans and defend themselves against a U.S. attack. The speaker also urged Iraqis to dig trenches and engage in urban warfare to fend off U.S. troops. However, the speaker said nothing about direct ties between al-Qaida and the Iraqi government - saying his followers only share a common interest with Iraq. He denounced Saddam's secular, socialist al-Baath party as ``infidels.''”

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-2396203,00.html


NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES also reported the tapes reference to Hussein as an infidel, they correct an earlier report that the tape called for Saddam’s overthrow, and they report that Colon did not realize that the tape had not yet been broadcasted, when he presented the translated transcript of the tape to ‘stunned members of a Senate committee’:

“Feb. 11 — An audio tape purported to carry the voice of Osama bin Laden called on Iraqis to carry out suicide attacks against Americans and defend themselves against a U.S. attack. “We stress the importance of martyrdom attacks against the enemy,” said the speaker on the tape, aired Tuesday on the al-Jazeera Arab satellite station.

The speaker in the 16-minute message declares Saddam, with whom bin Laden has been at odds for years, to be an “infidel,” but it stresses that the paramount battle for Muslims is with the United States and its allies. (MSNBC.com initially reported in error that the speaker had called for Saddam’s overthrow, based on a mistaken extemporaneous translation.)

Although Powell sought to characterize the tape as a concrete link between al-Qaida and the Iraqi government, White House officials acknowledged later to NBC News that it did not. Powell did not know it had not been broadcast when he spoke to the committee and was “a little on the front of his skis,” a government source said.

CRITICISM OF SADDAM

The tape as aired made it clear that bin Laden, if he is confirmed to be the speaker, had no sympathy for Saddam and his socialist Ba’ath Party, whom he described as the “infidels in Baghdad.””

 http://www.msnbc.com/news/842500.asp?0cv=CA01&cp1=1#BODY


A screenshot from an earlier MSNBC report stated:

“At the same time, the message also called on Iraqis to rise up and oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who is a secular leader.”

 http://www.democraticunderground.com/duforum/DCForumID60/35953.html#17


I contacted the MSNBC web news department at (425) 703-6397 and confirmed that they did post that story earlier today. The person that I spoke with said that it was a translation error.

These fools are really grabbing at straws. The trouble is, many Americans keep on buying this hype.