The US Government Translation of the Bin Laden “confession” tape was partially released today (FOX has the transcript, and CNN has a simplified version). It's mostly hard to understand and filled with religious rhetoric, but, assuming that it's not fabricated as some people claim (I'm sure links will pop up on that theory soon), it clearly implicates Bin Laden… However, the extent is not so clear.
My reading of the transcript suggests that he provided input (on how to destroy a building from his construction experience) and some planning, as well as financial support, but that ultimately, he did not know most of the details of the attacks (since perhaps only Atta actually knew that for security reasons). The transcript gives a fascinating insight into the way the group structured itself and used this highly decentralized to act effectively.
I'll be very interested to see how this tape is handled over the next few weeks, and how legitimate it turns out to be…
Oh, and I went to check my daily does of Wired, and look at the funny error I got (I must have hit it right at the exact moment they were updating something):
Today in History
Today is the 349th anniversary of the “discovery” of New Zealand by the Dutch. A number of Captain Tasman's crew were killed by Maori warriors (who assumed the trumpet signals from the Dutch were calls to battle) when they attempted to land.
It's also the 64th anniversary of the fall of Nanking, and the 7th anniversary of the European Parliament voting nearly unanimously to tell the US to give clemency to Leonard Peltier.
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