27 December 2007

Benazir Bhutto said Osama bin Laden was dead

And right on cue, shortly after former Pakistani premier Bhutto's own slaying, two key al-Qaeda news items appear. First, "senior US officials" are checking into an al-Qaeda claim of responsibility for the assassination, and—lo and behold—"Osama" himself will soon release a message regarding Iraq.

Bhutto asserted to David Frost less than two months ago that bin Laden had been murdered by Omar Sheikh, whom the Sunday Times once described as "no ordinary terrorist but a man who has connections that reach high into Pakistan's military and intelligence elite and into the innermost circles" of bin Laden and al-Qaeda. (Watch video starting at 5:33 for mentioned part.)



UPDATE 28 DEC 2007: Joe Cannon at Cannonfire has it all figured out, since he asked Bhutto herself about it, er, made an educated guess. He obliquely classifies my post as a "bad conspiracy theory." Cannon adds: "[B]logworld is once again being inundated with the claim that [Bhutto] told David Frost that Osama Bin Laden was killed by Omar Sheikh." No, Joe, it's not a claim, it's a fact. She says it in the video. I didn't put up an org chart, or a timeline, or pages and pages of insane conspiracy theories all tied to her statement, or links to same at other sites. And I'm still looking for any kind of follow-up with Bhutto in which she corrects herself or clarifies her misstatement. Also, you could help out by adding a link to your assertion that "on a subsequent occasion, [Bhutto] referred to Bin Laden as alive," which you wrote right before you went on to quote some conspiracy theories you like.

ADDITIONAL ADDITIONAL 28 DEC 07: "Anonymous" in comments has some links that clearly refute what Bhutto said to Frost, which should pretty much close the book on that... (cue spooky music) or DOES IT?

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

How old is David Frost? Because anyone else would've stopped her immediately and said "come again? Howzat?"

Anonymous said...

*sighs* And so...who do we believe? A prominant person in the middle east or our media which is bought and paid for by our corrupt government. Not much of a choice to me, but I could understand people not wanting to trust EITHER source.

zhochaka said...

David Frost has a lot of experience interviewing polticians, though since he was born in 1939 he might be slowing down a bit. There's certainly reason to be wary of the claim, but I don't think his competence is the issue.

There's been all sorts of rumours about bin Laden and Pakistan. But, unlike Iran or Iraq, they're a hardline Islamic state with nuclear weapons.

Anonymous said...

I thought this was strange too when I first saw this interview with Bhutto, but if you think about it, she most likely meant to say "Daniel Pearl" and simply misspoke when she said "Osama bin Laden", since Omar Sheikh was the person named responsible for killing Pearl. David Frost should have asked her to clarify her statement, but for some odd reason he didn't. Perhaps he was afraid to 'go there'. Anyway, IMO, this story can easily be dismissed as a simple mistake on Bhutto's part.

Anonymous said...

>but if you think about it, she most
>likely meant to say "Daniel Pearl"

That's one hell of a misstatement for Bhutto to make, max, but it's entirely possible.

However, it was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who said in February '07 that he personally murdered Pearl. Surely Bhutto had heard of that one way or the other. Omar Sheikh was connected to Pearl's death in other ways, from what I understand, but he apparently didn't do the actual murdering.

Also, did anyone bother to follow up with Bhutto for a clarification, if she in fact did make a mistake? Woulda cleared everything right up. I haven't found anything like that yet, be glad to hear if someone has.

Anonymous said...

Tip of the iceberg.
http://nasathermalimages.com

Anonymous said...

Gee, I wonder if it was a slipup?...Lets take 30 seconds and do some research shall we?
Here is what she said in June 2007..."If the Taliban are eliminated, or if their poster-boy Osama bin Laden is caught, the international cries for restoration of democracy will only deepen"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/The_United_States/Mushs_toppling_not_a_nightmare_for_West_Bhutto/articleshow/2111497.cms
Said this in Oct 2007..."If there is overwhelming evidence, I would hope that I would be able to take Osama bin Laden myself without depending on the Americans,"
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3676687
Said this the SAY AFTER THE FROST interview... I don't think General Musharraf personally knows where Osama bin Laden is, but I do feel that people around him are many who are associated with the earlier military dictatorship of the '80s.
http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0711/03/cnr.06.html
How many stories should I post about her talking about bin laden being alive before you admit this is a slipup and nothing more?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the legwork, Joe... er, I mean anonymous. Okay, so it's a slip-up. Or... (cue spooky music) maybe she SLIPPED UP IN THOSE THREE LINKS!!!

Hey, she said what she said, so what if she fucked up, I'm leaving it there. It's a great gaffe. That is... (cue spooky music) if it REALLY IS A GAFFE!

Anonymous said...

By the way, I'm not Joe. I think Osama is probably dead, and I also think that weapons grade anthrax being mailed 7 days after 9/11 proves the gov is guilty of both incidents. But this needs to be killed it gives tin foil nutters such as myself a bad name

Anonymous said...

Laden is dead. I have family that work in the 'high up' and it's all rhetoric to keep the 'so called' war on terror going. It's sad the American public so quickly believes all the lies being fed to them by our controlled media. Amazing and scary.

hoagy said...

What exactly is meant by "tin foil nutter"

Anonymous said...

Of course Bin Laden's dead. It would certainly explain why the Idiot Bush made the statement that "he didn't know where he was and he just didn't think about him that much anymore". Like I've said to my family and friends, I'm much more terrified of these fascists running the White House than I am of any sheep headers in the Middle East.

Anonymous said...

OOPS. Bhutto sealed her fate by proving she can't keep a CIA secret. Sir Frosty knew to keep his mouth shut and to not ask the followup question, since his boss at MI6 would administer the David Kelly treatment.

"I would like to assure the world that I did not plan the recent attacks.”
—Usama bin Laden, CNN, "Bin Laden says he wasn't behind attacks," September 17, 2001
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial/

"He also had former dealings with Omar Sheikh, the man who murdered Osama Bin Laden."
-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Frost over the World, 2 Nov 07 (6 weeks before her assassination in Pakistan)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oIO8B6fpFSQ

"We've never made the case, or argued the case that somehow Osama bin Laden was directly involved in 9/11. That evidence has never been forthcoming."
—Dick Cheney, "Interview of the Vice President by Tony Snow", March 29, 2006
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060329-2.html

QUESTION: "Mr President, in your speeches, you rarely mention Osama Bin Laden. Why is that?"
GEORGE BUSH JR: "I don't know where he is. I just don't spend that much time on him."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o

"9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page. He has not been formally indicted and charged in connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.”
—FBI agent Rex Tomb, June 6, 2006
www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm

"The goal has never been to get Bin Laden."
—General Richard Myers, chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff
www.myspace.com/911pressfortruth

OPERATION NORTHWOODS - the signed confession by US Govt for perping terrorist attacks in USA
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/doc1.pdf
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662&page=1
http://september911surprise.com

drbeeth said...

This was a very moving interview, done so closely to the moment she was killed.
My heart goes out to her family, and to those 3 1/2 million Pakistanis who had come out to joyfully greet her return.
I believe the mix up "Daniel Pearl" and "Usama Bin Laden" is the correct interpretation, since I actually believe Bin Laden died of natural causes (possibly a pneumonia, due to immune failure with non functioning kidney dialysis) somewhere around Dec 13th 2001. His every fart was most likely monitored by MI6 and US intelligence, so they finally allowed the release of the (in November announced) (fake!) "confession video" on Dec 10th, knowing that he was on his death bed.
It is testimony to Benazir Bhutto's naivety that she would have liked to have the FBI come and forensically investigate who killed the 158 people. Perhaps she never learned that the FBI were never allowed to forensically investigate the cause of death of more than 3000 people in the US on September 11th 2001.
It is a strange fact today that the only Presidential candidate who has expressed her firm will to finally find out who were behind the political mass murders of 9/11 is Green Party Candidate Cynthia McKinney.
All other candidates seem to promise us more of the same lies.

Dr Beeth, Brussels, Belgium

Anonymous said...

What everyone is missing here is the prior statement by Bhutto in the video that the son of Osama bin Laden was trying to kill her.
(Hasan bin Laden) Now why would she say that unless she thought Osama was dead as she clearly states later in the viedo.

Anonymous said...

Call me crazy but 'someone' needs to arm the Pakistanian people so they can take back their country. I hope everyone is watching this mess and realizes that we have 'some' freedom because Americans are armed. If they tried that s#!~ here the American people would drop the hammer big time... but then again this country has been so sedated by government manipulations that nothing short of charging to watch the superbowl would spark revolution. A former southern governor said it best when he said that the only thing needed to control the populace was a warm toilet, cable tv, and a highly publicized deadly threat kept at bay by your loyal government. Give me a break.

KJW said...

I saw the video, too, and I'm glad your blog (and blog commenters) have answers, or at least resources. Thanks!

KJW said...

And to Paul - I can't think of a single situation where a group of people were armed and the long-term result was positive.

Anonymous said...

Regarding Kelly Jean Walden's comment - " I can't think of a single situation where a group of people were armed and the long-term result was positive."

How about the founding of the USA?

To give up your right to bear arms is to give up your right to defend yourself. If you asked the American public to give up their weapons there would only be one response - "When you take it from my dead hands."

And this isn't me speaking but generations of gun owners I've known my entire life and many, many people much smarter than me.

As for Pakistan, yes there would be a blood bath but so be it. You don't negotiate with a cancer, you cut it out, plain and simple and these bastards need 'excised' with extreme prejudice.

Anonymous said...

Bin laden had end stage renal disease in 2001. No way he is still alive.

Joseph Cannon said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

All it takes is a minutes worth of investigation so see that she mis-spoke in the interview. When she said "Bi-Laden" she meant to say "Daniel Pearl".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Omar_Saeed_Sheikh

File it under "...people with a brain knew what she intended to say".

Wouldn't be the first time that a public figure let their mouth get ahead of their thoughts.

To the rest of you "Tin-Foil Nutters". Try using better evidence than some recycled misdeeds by the US more than 40 years ago.

Anonymous said...

Thank You for the Video Clip, there have numerous reports of Bin Laden's death over the years from prominent politicians from several countries. The only way Bin Laden could be issuing messages is by way of EVP.

joyclean said...

her statement about his death was not followed up by any reputable
media for clarification, or by any
high entity that wants him dead or alive. it betrays a consciousness of cia guilt, if nothing else.

Anonymous said...

I think it's great to be a skeptic. I tend to be a skeptic myself, but to say that that statement is an accident of any kind is a bit... well let me just say you have to be brainwashed pretty bad to just assume as your first thought that it's an accident. I also think it's odd that Mr. Frost didn't even stop her, but at the same time, you never know if he was warned if she brought it up to act like it was a misspeak. this all runs so deep we'll never know. Which is good for both sides, just like they want it.

Anonymous said...

Also, to add to my statement above, following anything up by the "media" should not be the staple of your beliefs. Anything you read. WE'RE SCREWED.

Anonymous said...

Bhutto was smart,articulate,and well educated.A politically savvy, international stateswoman well versed in dealing with the media..if she had made a comment of such magnitude and significance in error i feel certain she would have corrected her 'mistake' immediately...the fact that she did not,then or subsequently, speaks for itself.

Anonymous said...

Its interesting that Adam can makes numerous videos in a calm, reasonably comfortable (and un-cavelike) setting, but Bin Laden can only make audio recordings (and one video that mysteriously "freezes up" when he starts to discuss current events). Maybe its because its an indication that Adam is alive, and that Bin Laden has been dead for a very long time. Which begs the question, why are the American authorities denying it? Will they break Osama's body out of deep freeze shortly before the November elections and claim they just killed him? Yes folks, never forget that the "surge" is working. Stay tuned, as the plot will surely thicken (not to mention sicken) very soon.

Anonymous said...

Saddam hussein ex CIA
Mission: keep Iran in check
went rouge for years now he dead

osama bin liden CIA to help create CIA linked terrorist organization AL Qaeda now dead.

Benazir Bhutto knew it she sliped up by saying the truth and she paid for it and thats very sad.

the powers to be true enemy is Iran for reason's i don't know yet.
maybe becuase they good not be controlled.

American people are being tricked by government funded media and corrupt government.

are troops are just tools and there poor souls just think there just protecting us. We need to get those man/women home

also does it seem its a greater chance for gang violence to effect you then a true terrorist attack.

Anonymous said...

yahbut isnt he dead?

->@

Anonymous said...

Cannon is a shill. Not even worth a reference.

Anonymous said...

it is weel nown that the cia trains, pays and groms and most of the time creats opossintion partys and candidats for manny year so the reward is to have pepol they can control as hige up as posibile in forein contrys.

that mean that she nows lots mor then u and me about how is dead and how is a live.

and make no mistake she is a pro she dosn´t make mastake it not her first intervju in al jazeera.

think about this for a sekund who is she talking to in this intervju in al jazeera "english" and why

Anonymous said...

i disagree with benazin.

If she say tru, then its not a big loss for Islamic forces, because Osama live in Muslims hearts.

Tom said...

Please see this video: Bhutto didn't mean to say "Osama bin Laden"

Bhutto did NOT think Osama was murdered, she talked about him before and after the Frost interview and it is clear she didn't think Omar Sheikh killed him.
For example:
CURRY: So if you return to power, how would you face down al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden?
BHUTTO: Bin laden has evaded capture because the pursuit has not been hard enough. See links in my video

Missy Weimer said...

I am gonna blog this link on Justacasualobservation.com.

thanks!

Anonymous said...

Consider this.... if Bin Laden is dead, who is it really being hid from? Obviously Al-Queda qould know, his Muslim supporters would know (they have no more contact)!
This is not a ploy to manipulate them! They know the truth! (Dead or Alive)!

If Bin Laden is dead why wouldn't his supporters come forward and announce his succession? This would demonstrate a show of strength in the organization not the individual. and Why would they support a US govt... secret when they could simply expose the truth and dis-arm the US/ CIA backed plot?
1. b/c it's not true(BinLaden is alive)
0r
2. b/c the plot is deeper then we would like to admit! Bin Laden is dead but it is not announced b/c Al-Queda is not Arab/ Muslim ran but US/ CIA ran and even the higher ranking officals within the organization are kept in the dark!

The question is why would the USA/CIA want to be involved with a terrorist group such as Al-Queda?
1. Power at home- threat allows the control of the American public
2. Money... re-direct wealth (look)
3. Propaganda...world wide support / control / manipulation
4. Position.... gives a firm foothold in the Middle East
5. Isreal.... our influence in the Middle East strengthens our #1 ally in the Middle East. and positions us strategically against Russia>.

We can keep goin... not a big consipracy theorist but some things should explain themselves and when they don't there is usually a reason for that!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much.. its a pure shame that the US Govt. continues to scare the people about Bin Laden... HE IS DEAD and has been for a LONG time now... Thank you Benazir... you helped wake up the world to the US Govt. LIES!!!

Anonymous said...

To state that bhutto miss spoke is a reach in its self! possible? yes! but a far reach non the less. Lets do the math!g.w.bush (someone find the date please) states at a press conference That "to tell you the truth i dont know where he is, i just don't pay that much attention to him" WHAT!!! now consider the fact that our elite (best in the world right) intelligence agencies also dont seem to know where he is!Hmmmm! bhutto Then states to frost in nov. 07 that he is dead! a month later so is she? remember that salim bin laden (osama's brother) bailed G.w.bush out of a failed multi million dollar business deal apparantly on more than one occasion!!! simple math folks!

Unknown said...

Indeed, it is a reach to say that Bhutto misspoke especially when it is most often said by those who could NOT POSSIBLY have first hand or competent knowledge one way or the other. My advice (if not admonition) to those who are NOT principles to an issue and are likewise NOT competent to provide either evidence or proof one way or the other to just SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Unknown said...

Indeed, it is a reach to say that Bhutto misspoke especially when it is most often said by those who could NOT POSSIBLY have first hand or competent knowledge one way or the other. My advice (if not admonition) to those who are NOT principles to an issue and are likewise NOT competent to provide either evidence or proof one way or the other to just SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Pakistani Boy said...

Now it all makes sense. Benazir was a politician and I have reason to believe that she wanted to protect Pakistan from Unilateral american attacks. She wanted to disclose the truth but in a way that would appear to be dubious or uncertain. She was assassinated for saying too much because how else on earth would the Obama administration claim victory over "terrorism" and that too right before the presidential elections? I also wonder why the body which could have been used for much investigation was dumped in the sea? Our leaders and your leaders have always been strategically removed the minute they refused to bow down to secrecy and revealed the truth.