Rove has been busy........
Bush's camp gets gift from 'Azzam the American'
Is it a pre-election gift to the Bush campaign from al-Qaida? Or is it the Republicans' long-awaited October surprise?
Ellis Henican
10/29/04 "Newsday" -- A 75-minute videotape, featuring a scary-looking fellow in sunglasses and a Palestinian headscarf, warning that blood will "run red" in the streets of America.
Yikes!
There was no actual evidence yesterday that the late October tape was produced in Karl Rove's basement or Ed Gillespie's garage.
But the top-ranking Republicans politicos, who've been enduring a drip-drip of difficult news, were said to be grinning like they hadn't since the term "swift boat" led the evening news. However the tape materialized - wink, wink - it dovetails almost perfectly with the president's fear-based campaign.
And what a piece of work this video is!
The speaker is identified as "Azzam the American," which you have to admit is an odd name to choose for someone seeking to connect with "my fellow countrymen." Not Jimmy the American or Bill the American.
Azzam.
He speaks in what sounds like the villain's dialogue in a bad Schwarzenegger film.
"Allah willing, the streets of America will run red with blood, matching drop for drop the blood of America's victims," he says, wagging his finger at the camera. "What took place on September 11th was but the opening salvo in the global war on America."
Azzam goes on like that for a good long while in clearly accented English, addressing his "fellow" Americans.
"You are guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty," he says. "You are as guilty as Bush and Cheney. You're as guilty as Rumsfeld and Ashcroft and Powell. After decades of American tyranny and oppression, now it's your turn to die."
Honestly, how perfect is that? An armed purported terrorist, trashing five members of the Bush administration in a single paragraph of rant. Scott McClellan couldn't have ghosted better lines.
At the very least, it ought to lay to rest who al-Qaida is pulling for on Tuesday, assuming the tape is real. This is one terror group that would obviously appreciate four more years of the same.
Boosting recruitment with the occupation of Iraq. Letting Osama bin Laden run free. Alienating America's allies.
Actually, given the political bank-shot potential here, it's a wonder bin Laden hasn't put out a press release: "Kerry is my man." That could lift Bush well beyond the margin of error and ensure one diabetic terrorist never gets caught.
But is the tape real?
There was lingering reason for skepticism last night. For one thing, never before has the terror network released its videos in English. For another, no one in U.S. intelligence seems to have heard of this dude "Azzam." If al-Qaida really had a pre-election message for America, why not send out a spokesman who is already known?
But U.S. government experts were saying the video did bear the same production logo as some legitimate al-Qaida tapes. The tape included a simultaneous Arabic translation, which takes some work, and there's even a news-ticker "crawl" on the screen that would be familiar to viewers of Fox and CNN.
A couple of snippets from the tape aired on ABC News last night, after being analyzed by Brian Ross and the network's investigative team. Ross said the tape was received by an ABC producer in Pakistan. Specialists from the FBI and the CIA also scrutinized the video.
None of them could say for certain that the tape was real - or pin down the motives of those who put it out and promoted its airing at such a politically sensitive time.
But here was a hint.
First word of the tape leaked on the Drudge Report. Matt Drudge and then other right-leaning pundits pounded on ABC to air it, while Ross and his broadcast colleagues moved methodically. The righties certainly didn't think it would hurt Bush.
But October is almost over. Election Day is almost here. The WMDs are still missing. Osama is still on the loose.
So any pre-election surprises had better show up quickly - the accidental or the purposeful kind.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Just in time, need to escalate the fear in Americans before the election.
