In an unauthenticated audiotape sent to Al Jazeera, Osama Bin Laden (or someone who does a respectable impression of him) is claiming credit for the botched Christmas bombing on Flight 253, saying that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's operation was "a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of the Sept. 11." He also warns of future attacks. Does this tape show that Bin Laden still poses a significant threat to the U.S., or has he — as some experts say — been reduced to claiming credit for other people's failures to keep his name in the headlines? (Watch a CBS report about Osama bin Laden's latest tape)
Bin Laden is now officially a has-been: "I'm going to go out on a limb here," says Juan Cole in Informed Comment, and say that the tape isn't genuine and, moreover, that "it demonstrates that Bin Laden, whether he is dead or alive, is now irrelevant." The tape isn't his style, thematically or tactically. If by some chance it really "is Bin Laden, it is a pitiful Bin Laden trying to stay relevant by grandstanding and stealing others' thunder."
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