Infowar: Laden
Played it First, then America took over-- PART
II
By S Raghotham
Not only did the media not press the demand for evidence against Bin Laden, US TV networks went to some lengths to manufacture consent for the war
Then started the American media blitzkrieg.
The Evidence Against Bin Laden
Less than an hour after the second plane was rammed into the WTC, the American government and media had already decided who had done it - Bin Laden, who else?
To date, nobody has seen the
evidence against Bin Laden. On Sept 13, just two days after the attacks, Colin
Powell said at a Meet the Press that he was "absolutely convinced"
that the Al Qaeda network headed by Bin Laden was responsible for the attacks.
Powell also said the US "will be able to publish a report linking
Bin Laden to the attacks." Powell was already talking of war too. On Sept
13, he said "Laden and Al Qaeda must be targeted…" (CNN). No such
report as promised by Powell has been made available to the media publicly. In
fact, not even the anti-terror coalition partners have seen any such report -
Tony Blair said he had seen "irrefutable evidence," Musharaff said he
had seen the evidence and was satisfied - Blair is America¿s staunchest ally,
and Musharraf is now a frightened kitten.
The next day, the New York Times reported: Bush Singles Out Laden. That was the
end of all inquiry. It was already time for war, with Mr Bush¿s "Make no
mistake" speeches all over the television networks.
The same day, CNN presented the
following under the heading: What Proof of Laden¿s Involvement?
"Investigations into who
was behind Tuesday¿s terrorist attacks in the U.S. began just hours after the
first plane struck the North Tower of New York City¿s World Trade Center.
Within 48 hours some 4,000
special agents and 3,000 support personnel were assigned to the case, with
about 400 FBI laboratory specialists deployed to examine the forensic evidence.
Almost immediately the finger
of suspicion was pointed at exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden and his
shadowy group of followers known as al Qaeda, or "The Base."
He has been implicated in a
series of attacks on and plots against U.S. targets, and also has a well-known
grudge against the United States and its people.
On top of that there is the compelling evidence that men connected with him
have targeted the World Trade Center before -- in a 1993 truck bomb attack that
left six dead and more than 1,000 injured.
Bin Laden has denied that he
was himself involved in those attacks but nonetheless has said he supports the
actions of those who carried them out. "
That was it.
Sept 20, the NYT was still acknowledging that "Law enforcement
officials ... appear to have little solid evidence tying Mr. bin Laden¿s group
to the attacks."
Even on October 8, when the destruction of Afghanistan had already started, the NYT reported: On Thursday, the first glimpse at the investigators¿ findings was released by British prime minister, Tony Blair, after the Americans declined to do so. But the British document includes several paragraphs that seemed to admit that some evidence was circumstantial.