Major Update:

It is Bin Laden

The CIA has authenticated the voice on a tape played by al-Jazeera as Osama bin Laden, an agency official said.

White House Response:

“We do not negotiate with terrorists,” McClellan said. “We put them out of business.”

Don’t forget there are updates at the end of this post.

UPDATE:

All other updates are at the end, I wanted to put this one at the beginning since it is a partial transcript of the tape.

END UPATE

Just hit Drudge and all the alerts coming out – amazing. I think it is now safe to say the CIA hit in Pakistan rattled Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

Al-Jazeera aired an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden on Thursday, saying al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a truce to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.

The voice on the tape said heightened security measures in the United States are not the reason there have been no attacks there since the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings.

Instead, the reason is “because there are operations that need preparations, and you will see them,” he said.

“Based on what I have said, it is better not to fight the Muslims on their land,” he said. “We do not mind offering you a truce that is fair and long-term. … So we can build Iraq and Afghanistan … there is no shame in this solution because it prevents wasting of billions of dollars … to merchants of war.”

Sounds like fake bluster to me. They may have some attacks waiting, but it is hard to conceive of a scenario where they have the ability to really cripple us.

But I tell you what, this is going to really undermine the left in this country. Mad Murtha’s calls for retreat? Right now they look like someone who quit when the end was just around the corner. Al Gore’s claims about Bush being dangerous to America? Bush apparantly has his hands on the neck of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda and they are begging for a truce.

Michelle Malkin’s round up on this is here. Michelle also points to the Counter Terrorism Blog’s latest news here.

UPDATE:

This is not Bin Laden’s first offer of a truce. He offered it once before, only to Europe, in December 2004.

Bin Laden issued an audio tape in April 2004 in which he also offered a truce — on that occasion to Europe, but not to the United States. Analysts saw the move at the time as an attempt to drive a wedge between the United States and its allies and to scare wavering coalition members out of Iraq.

Bin Laden’s last audio tape was in December 2004. The interval between then and now was by far his longest public silence since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

I think it is safe to say this offer for a truce is not going to go over well in the Muslim World. After all the fighting and death a truce would be seen as a loss. The ‘fight to the death’ mantra has been laid bare by this plea for a truce.

UPDATE II:

The US Stock Market is rallying on the news of a Bin Laden call for truce (wrapped in a hard to believe threat). My guess is Bush’s stock will jump as well. The Dems are sitting way out on a limb of appeasement, quitting, name calling and fighting for the rights of terrorists to communicate freely with their contacts in the US….

And Bin Laden may want to surrender. The dems are going to look back on 2006 as the year they screwed up royally. Is it any surprise Bin Laden is listing Iraq and Afghanistan as the places he is willing to rebuid under the truce? They just happen to be the two democratically governed allies of the US. Al Qaeda may have just vindicated Bush’s efforts over the years to establish democracies and turn the tide in the region. If Al Qaeda has recognized these two states in this manner, the Clarkes, Wilsons, Kerrys, Kennedys, Pelosis, Rathers, NYTimes, Deans, Daschles, Soroses, KOsKids, etc were all wrong. Dead wrong.

Seems the terrorists clued in faster the the Bush haters.

UPDATE III:

Harry Belefonte is looking mighty stupid right now

He was harsh in his criticism of President Bush, saying, “Killing is our easiest tool. When you look at the president who has led us into a dishonorable war that has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, many our own sons and daughters, I ask myself what Dr. King would have asked…

“It is an act that has driven fear and terror into the hearts of the American people.

Only a few sad, pathetic people like Belefonte quit on the US. Now that Bin Laden may be quitting I wonder what the quitters will say?

UPDATE IV:

I understand the full tape is ten minutes long, so I suspect more will come out as it is translated. The BBC is reporting experts are divided on whther this is Bin Laden, and the full implications of the threat:

People familiar with Bin Laden’s voice are divided as to whether the voice really is his.
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The voice on the tape said the reason there had not been an attack in the US since 11 September 2001 was not because of superior US security, but because the group had been engaged in activities in Iraq and because operations in the US “need preparations”.

“The operations are happening in Baghdad and you will see them here at home the minute they are through (with preparations), with God’s permission,” he said.

Sounds like our worse nightmare: suicide bombs. Note this post I did earlier today on this very subject, and how the press ignored warning signs.

UPDATE V:

The BBC has some interesting reporting on how the Arab News Media is ignoring the latest diatribes from Al Qaeda leaders.

Although al-Jazeera led with the latest messages from Zawahiri and Zarqawi – just as they have done with the tape purportedly from Osama Bin Laden – a number of other Arab broadcasters did not broadcast the material at all.

TV stations in Iraq ignored them almost completely. The criticism directed by Zarqawi at Iraqi Sunnis who participated in the recent elections drew strong criticism from Sunni politicians.

Leaders of the main Sunni party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, issued denunciations of Zarqawi’s call for Iraqi Sunnis to side with the insurgency and not the political process in the international Arab media, such as the Dubai-based TV station, al-Arabiya, and the influential pan-Arab newspaper, al-Hayat.

There was similar reaction from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which was attacked by Zawahiri in his latest video for taking part in Egypt’s recent parliamentary elections.

The organisation’s deputy leader, Muhammad Habib, warned on the Muslim Brotherhood website that Zawahiri’s violent tactics would “open the doors to evil and create total chaos”.

When combined with the news the Iraqi insurgents have been openly attacking the foreign Al Qaeda fighters, this appears more and more like a desperate last gasp by Bin Laden. Ignoring AQ could easily turn into AQ tips to the West if they are seen as a net negative in the Arab and Muslim world.

UPDATE VI:

Conflicting news on the seriousness of attack. One news source, which I have never heard, of has word of a call for attack from a Jihadist website on the Alaskan Pipeline:

A recent posting on a Web site purportedly affiliated with al Qaeda urges attacks against the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and Valdez tanker dock, calling on jihadists to either shower the pipe with bullets or hide and detonate explosives along its length.

The unknown author encourages small cells of four or five mujahedeen, or Muslim guerrillas, living in the United States or in Canada or Mexico to mount the attacks.

The 10-page posting includes numerous links to Web sites providing maps and other basic information about the pipeline.

Attacking oil and gas targets in the United States and other countries is key to bringing down the economy of the “American devils,” the author writes, saying the message was posted in response to calls from Osama bin Laden and his top al Qaeda deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

The maps and such are troubling. Though this is not the best time of year to be going to that part of Alaska. On the flip side the government is claiming there is no imminent indication of attack beyond the normal levels.

U.S. counterterror officials said Thursday they have seen no specific or credible intelligence to indicate an upcoming al-Qaeda attack on the country, despite a new audio tape reporting preparations for such a mission.

It would sort of negate any serious consideration of a truce if an attack were to happen now.

UPDATE VII:

Moonbattery on display here:

Now is the time, Dems. Now is the time. I want to hear something GOOD on this. Something that you have obviously PREPARED and COORDINATED.

And then once you have astonished everyone with your clarity, we need to get right back to the ordinary course of business of exposing the GOP for the culture of corruption, cronyism and incompetence it is. Bin Laden is obviously a side show. Let’s burn the damned thing to the ground, and get back to the real action.
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t[h]is just another bulls**t psi-ops by bushes DOD. They need to take the eye off all the republican corruption here at home, as well as the NSA stuff etc.

This tape is total bulls**t, I can’t believe anyone falls for this lame ol propaganda.
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I do however think there is a possibility this is a fake done independently by people in the arab world who really want Bush to succeed and are savvy about our politics; yes there are a few undoubtedly.

And here

Just as the scandals are coming to a boil…And the Dems are scoring some good hits against the rethugs. Also, it’s an election year, and the rethug prospects are looking grim. Time to roll OSB out of the crypt.
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So Bush will Allow Another Attack to Happen Again …to get his ass off the hook with the spying scandal.
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Time to dust off … the old color chart of terror! I think I had better go down to the basement and make certain my duct tape and plastic are still safely stored away. Start storing water and food people!!

Who says liberals don’t take national security seriously???