Was the Recent Osama Tape Bogus?

Larry Chin sure thinks so:

This latest production may be the clumsiest and most transparent fakery of them all. Today, with the Bush administration cornered and bleeding from scandals, in need of a distraction and cover for an atrocity in Pakistan, more justification for a future conquest of Iran, and facing Peak Oil and Gas-related collapse, it is a fine time for another wag, another attempt at the same old trick. But it is a trick that is losing its power.(snip)

"One of the main objectives of war propaganda is to ‘fabricate an enemy’. As anti-war sentiment grows and the political legitimacy the Bush Administration falters, doubts regarding the existence of this illusive ‘outside enemy’ must be dispelled.

"Propaganda purports not only to drown the truth but also to ‘kill the evidence’ on how this ‘outside enemy’, namely Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda was fabricated and transformed into ‘Enemy Number One’. The entire National Security doctrine centers on the existence of an ‘outside enemy’ which is threatening the Homeland."

Even if he were real, "Osama", "Al-Qaeda" and the "war on terrorism" has exclusively served the political purposes of the Anglo-American empire, every moment that the Bush administration has needed a fabricated straw enemy. The irrefutable fact that Osama bin Laden, and Al-Qaeda, and all fabricated propaganda featuring their images, are creations of Anglo-American intelligence, and continue to serve faithfully as intelligence assets.(snip)

..."if the case can be made that the tapes are, in fact, manufactured by US intelligence agencies, it stands to reason that the words out of the mouth of the Osama image have also been conceived, written and planted by these same agencies. It is therefore foolish to ‘read’ the tapes without this likely framework in mind...It is not a stretch to expect future bin Laden tapes to issue more specific planted facts about a variety of issues that the Bush administration wants American citizens to oppose. "

Recall that the goal of the last round of "Osama" transmissions sought to ridicule 9/11 "conspiracy theories", and the concept that oil was behind the Anglo-American war of conquest. In this followup, the Bush administration wants Americans, and the entire world, to oppose the anti-war movement. If "Osama" the arch-fiend is talking peace, then peace, of course, is unacceptable.

A good, fairly even-handed analysis here from Al Jazeera.

On the other hand, we have this piece of rubbish from CIA agent Larry Johnson, who caters strongly to both the liberal viewpoint and the official bin Laden legend: "Why We Can't Nab Bin Laden"

My rule of thumb is: don't trust ANYTHING that CIA agents say about 9/11, al Qaeda or bin Laden.