six points in the Super Bowl of Terrorism, a scraggly-faced Osama bin Laden would suddenly leap from the crowd, grab pom-poms and start cheering for U.S. Quarterback George W. Bush to attack Iraq? 
        And who would believe Osama's sudden appearance in the final seconds of the game sparked the energy for the U.S. to crash through Security Council linebackers (France & Germany), enabling the U.S. to score just enough points to prove the American was right all along--that Saddam Hussein is indeed part of the Al-Qaeda "evil axis?"
         Incredible but True?????????.....Well........
         Enter skepticism!
         As incredulous as the above scenario appears, it happened yesterday. 
         Yes, the elusive Osama bin Laden showed up on last minute cue yesterday in the from of an audio tape released to the world.   In it, he injected just enough adrenaline into the tired and battered "invasion arguments" of Secretary of Defense Colin Powell  to justify a final nail in Saddam Hussein's coffin.  At least, that is, in the minds America's ready-to-go-to-battle Administration.

         Secretary Powell breathlessly broke the news that Osama bin Laden had come to the Administration's rescue yesterday at a Senate Budget Committee hearing.  He was there to open the purse strings of America's war chest.  Powell was defending the need to fund all the bombs and bullets he could get his hands.  He faced detractors who believe war will cost the U.S. more than it can afford--especially since there hasn't been clear evidence of a "smoking gun" regarding weapons inspections, and, prior to the Osama Tape, there had been no direct link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.  Below are excerpts from the Osama Tape:

        Before the appearance of the Osama Tape yesterday, even C.I.A. head, George Tenet, was reluctant to confirm Hussein had any part of the Nine Eleven attack on the U.S. or he was an active supporter of al-Qaeda.
         That all changed yesterday. 
         Secretary Powell presented the 16-minute audio tape to the Budget Committee before it was aired publicly.   The Osama-like Voice refers to Saddam's citizens as "our brothers in Iraq," embracing for the first time a close alliance between the Iraqi state and al-Qaeda.  
         Hussein has insisted he has no part in al-Qaeda.  
       The audio tape, broadcast by Al Jazeera, the pro Osama Arab network, was  rebroadcast in the U.S. by Fox News.  The U.S. has previously warned American broadcast media to not air Osama's messages for fear they contain hidden codes to set off Terrorist attacks.  But in this case, politics overruled security.  The Osama Tape became a thin webbed bridge closing the credibility gap between Iraq and Osama, two of the three "axis of evil."  The third axis is North Korea, ruled by Kim Jong Il.
        Powell used the tape to evidence that Osama was "in partnership with Iraq."  He said it proved the U.S. could not count simply on a beefed-up inspection force in Iraq.  
        France and Germany have proposed sending in 2,000 weapons inspectors as part of a plan to avert war.  The U.N. Security council has balked at the U.S. plan to invade Iraq to enforce compliance with its Resolution 1441 demanding Iraq disclose all its weapons of mass destruction.  The U.N. wants to extend time for negotiations, not war, to resolve the conflict.
       The dramatic appearance of the Osama Tape in the final seconds of America's struggles with both domestic and world opinion about America's right to attack on Iraq, stirs the skeptic in me.  It makes me wonder if the Osama Tape is indeed the "Osama/Bush Tape."
     

        For well over a year, Osama bin Laden has shifted out of America's crosshairs.   In his place has morphed Saddam Hussein.
       When the Administration suddenly shifted from targeting Osama bin Laden as America's Most Wanted Terrorist, I jumped out of my chair and wrote headlines:  "Where Is Osama Bin Laden?"   I wondered why no one seemed to care much at the time that the Number One Terrorist suddenly switched  from the mastermind of Nine Eleven to the mustached 63-year-old despot sitting in Baghdad smoking cigars and polishing the heads of his nuclear and biochemical artillery shells.

       It appeared obvious the U.S. was trying some broken field running to get to Saddam rather than bring Osama bin Laden to justice.  I began to buy in to the idea of the long-range threat of Iraq until Kim Jong Il shoved up his middle finger at the U.S. and the world by reopening his nuclear weapons manufacturing plant in defiance of the Agreed Framework that he wouldn't. Kim seemed the most dangerous threat to us all.
       Terrorism in my book is Terrorism.   But some Terrorists are far more dangerous to the future of the Children's Children's Children than others.  By priority, the one with the most weapons and most reasons to use them against the innocent is the most dangerous.   That puts Kim in first place, Osama in second, and Saddam in third.
       So when the Osama Tape appeared, my skepticism flared.  I began to wonder if America--in desperation to turn Saddam into a threat greater than Kim--decided by linking he and Osama the two would become one.  Their combined threat would be greater than Kim's.
       That skepticism included forcing me to think that the Osama Tape might not be his at all, but rather  a creative copy of his Voice, or even snippets of it, blended together by some C.I.A. audio geek and planted so that America and the world might endorse the "rush to war."   I even wondered if the U.S. might have made a "deal" with Osama to make the tape in exchange for a year's supply of Schick razor blades.
        I declare I'm a Pyrrhonist. (see expanded definition below).   Pyrrhonism maintains that nothing is absolutely true or absolutely false, absolutely good or evil, absolutely right or wrong.  In other words, everything has degrees, a mixture of pluses and minuses that makes it impossible to arrive at any "absolute righteousness."   It also says that our senses deceive us in the pursuit of truth, and we are inclined to be swayed by them.  It's like walking into a bar full of 'doubting Thomases' and when you introduce yourself as being "you" they all question if you're really who you say you are.  And even when you prove it, they don't believe you because they know you as a composition of genes, a mix of many who have come before, ergo you aren't really "you," but the sum of many "you's."  In other words, Osama, Kim, Saddam and George are all one, mixed up here and there a bit, but all cut from the same cloth--all claiming righteous power over the others and justness of their causes.
       Besides being a Pyrrhonist, I'm also a misanthrope-- one who vests little trust in others.  My distrust is not violent or acidic distrust that demeans others as liars, cheats and thieves, or, makes me right and them wrong.  My distrust is Beast-based.

      I believe that our Beast of Terror seeks to make us believe what we want to believe, and will, even in the best of people, twist the truth around to fit such beliefs.  I believe we all want to be "right" and none of us want to be "wrong."   I sometimes feel like a cop who has heard too many criminals say, "I'm innocent."  
       Over the years, I've learned not to trust myself.   When I become so "right" I know I must be "wrong."  And, when I find myself so "wrong" I know I must be "right."   Bottom line, I find that when I have the "right to be wrong," my mind opens.   I allow Doubt and Belief to coexist, and then, ultimately, work on building my final decision based on being One Percent More Right than Wrong, even though I don't believe there is an "absolute right" or "absolute wrong" to anything except the protection of the Children's Children's Children.   That, I view, as an absolute duty, an absolute responsibility that has no wriggle room for any of us.
       I also know the Beast of Terror strolls in us all, and given an inch, he'll take a mile.   He can turn titanium resolve into a pretzel if he wants.  Humans are full of defects, and no matter how much resolve we might wish for, our feet are made of clay.   We are vulnerable to our emotions.  We can make mistakes.

       George W. Bush has for more than a year, argued an attack on Iraq.   He's turned his back to the North Korean threat and other issues by his dogged determination to unseat Saddam.   He's struggled to be "right" and to convince the world to see through his eyes.  He may be willing to go to any lengths to achieve his righteousness, including perhaps believing that the Osama Tape is an endorsement of U.S. policy against Iraq.
        But why should I or anyone accept this 16-minute tape as being an endorsement for war?   It comes too conveniently for me to buy as final evidence that Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda are linked..    My instincts are--as a skeptic--to believe that in some CIA high-tech lab it was created like they do on the mock C.I.A. television show The Agency.   
        I find it also incredulous that with all the massive technology available, that the audio tape could not be affirmed as Osama's.   For the past 24 hours the news has boomed out, "the unauthenticated tape."   It would seem that with all the intelligence and decoding power of the United States government, an audio tape could be deemed the "real McCoy" or not in a few hours.    Perhaps I have seen too many Alias shows, or too many CSI episodes where forensic teams nail down facts from fiction in quick time, or too many The Agency dramas where teams of people verify the counterfeit from the reality between commercials.
        And why wouldn't Osama use video tape as he has in the past?  Why audio?
        I had to stop.   I was in a tailspin.
        The world doesn't need an audio tape to confirm that Saddam Hussein is a Terrorist.  He used lethal gas on innocent women and children, killing thousands who dared to protest against his despotic rule.  He rules from Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.  
        Osama is obviously a Terrorist.  He is the architect of Nine Eleven and other attacks around the world.   And, he's an arch enemy of Saddam Hussein.  Saddam rules his domain from a secular vista while Osama is on a religious crusade to return the Middle East to its Islamic roots, including unseating other Arab leaders who violate the purity of Islamic law.

       Kim Jong Il is without question a Terrorist.   His citizens boil grass to eat while Kim wallows in luxury.  He uses Terrorism's Fear, Intimidation and Complacency to rule his world, and would sell his nuclear arms surplus to the highest bidder without blinking an eye.
        But the world government is reluctant to indict such Terrorists, for if they did, then they would have to act.  They would, as President Bush has elected, have to wage war on them.  And in war, all the rules are subject to be broken.   The Beast takes charge.  
         It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that America is desperate to attack and remove Saddam Hussein from power.  It may be so desperate it manufactured the Osama Tape.
        Sometimes the Beast of Terror needs a push, a prod, a jerk on its chain to make it snarl so the world of Complacent onlookers will shudder in Fear or awaken to the "facts" that have been staring them in the face.   Perhaps the Osama Tape forces the "fence riders" to rethink certain questions.
        Will Saddam Hussein--gone unchecked--build nuclear weapons and expand his biochemical arsenal?  
        Will Kim Jon Il build and sell nuclear weapons to use as Tools of Intimidation?   Will he and Saddam sell any surplus nuclear or biochemical weapons to the highest bidders? 
        One doesn't need audio tapes to predict the future of rogue nations that have histories of tyranny and oppression of their own people and others.   Osama doesn't need to be used to reinforce Saddam Hussein's megalomania.  

        But people do need an awakening.  They need to realize the Beast of Terror is surrounding them in all different sizes, shapes and forms.
         When people do not have visions to the future they accept the present as is.  
         Complacency is accepting a person or thing or situation as is.
         The Osama Tape changes the Terrorism paradigm.   It brings Osama and Saddam together as "brothers of Iraq."  The two together outweigh North Korea.
          I am inclined to believe the Osama Tape is directed as a "low blow" to the U.N. Security Council.   Osama wants the U.S. to go to war and unseat Saddam Hussein.  Osama hates Hussein because Hussein is a secular leader not a religious one.  Saddam is "god." He is not fighting for "God."   He smokes and likes women and is, in many ways, like a Westerner.   He's all about Saddam.  Osama is all about fighting an apocalyptic war where he Zionizes the battle as a U.S. effort to destroy Islam and secure Israel's presence in the Middle East.  Saddam simply wants Hitlarian control over an Arab State, not a just an Islamic one.
          The Osama Tape shuffles two Terrorists into one body.   It forces the Security Council to admit the missing Terrorist link between Iraq and al-Qaeda has been found. 

         Is the Osama Tape valid?
         Who knows? 
         We may never know.
         But is it timely?
         Absolutely!  
         Will it help secure the future of the Children's Children's Children by inciting those Complacent Security Council members to rally behind the U.S. for a full-out attack on Iraq?
         Perhaps.  Hopefully it will.
History will tell.
          But what the Osama Tape does for sure is reinforce my Pyrrhonism.  It reminds me that no one is "right" or "wrong" when trying to secure the best deal for themselves.   It reminds me that only way to make the "right" decision is to think through the impact of Terrorism to the Children's Children's Children's future.  
        It makes me eager for the world to become Citizens of Vigilance rather than Citizens of Complacency who sit around and argue with one another about the "right" and "wrong" of immediate issues when the real issue--the future of the Children--is indisputable.
         So, what is the "real message" on the tape?
         For me, it is a reminder that our governments--all governments--need to focus on the security and safety of the Children's Children's Children.  If that is the key to all decision, then nations won't get bogged down in the quagmire of "who is right" and "who is wrong."

       I have supported the U.S. actions against Iraq not on any other basis than the fact that Saddam Hussein killed 5,000  innocent women and children with lethal gas during the Kurd uprising in the village of Birginni on August 25, 1988 and left thousands more blinded and sickened.   He will do that again if necessary.  I find the gassing of innocent women and children far more Terroristic than the attack on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and foiled attempt to destroy the White House.  It saddens me that we should more outraged over the death of 3,000 adults in America than we were over thousands of women and children.
        Had we acted as Global Parents of Vigilance then, we would not be facing the Iraq war today.  We would have removed Saddam then.
         I am also supportive of the U.S. taking a stand as a Parent of Vigilance to attack Terrorism in spite of a world that refuses to stop the growth of rogue nations until they present a "clear and present danger," which, I believe they avoid because an assault on Iraq today to change its regime sets a standard for a "world policeman" that may one day come to another nation and demand it change its behavior or be threatened with invasion.
        I believe nations don't want anyone sticking their noses in "their business," and will sacrifice the safety and security of innocent children in other parts of the world to protect that selfish right>
        I believe that nations wait too long to act against despots and tyrants.
        I believe when a parent raises his or her hand to hit a child one should intervene to stop the child from receiving the blow.   To wait until the child's face is smashed is far too long and far too wrong.
       But I am not a believer that the U.S. alone is right in acting alone.

       Prryhonistically speaking, I believe a group of Parents of Vigilance, all looking at issues from the vista of the Children's Children's Children and measuring the degrees of "good" versus the degrees of "bad" will ultimately come to a consensus that actions are necessary "now" to protect the future against growing threats of Terrorism directed not just at their children, but at all children.
       I believe a Global Parents of Vigilance Council rather than a Security Council would be far more perspicacious in their duty to protect future generations than a group of men and women solely concerned with their own immediate future.   The U.N. in my view, is nothing more than a group of old men trying to protect their sovereignty at the expense of their children's safety.
       If the only pure truth is that which vests the children with security, then only focus on the Children's Children's Children can be used to decide the "right" or "wrong," the "good" or "bad" of those accused of Terrorism  in the present. 
       The Osama Tape reminds us all that the truth is a degree of a lie, and all lies have degrees of truth.   Pyrrhonism nullifies the Osama Tape as both "truth" and "lie."
       But it does remind us that only when the Children's Children's Children are brought to bear on the issue will the "ultimate degree of truth" surface.    And that truth will not be the justification for war, but rather the justification for the security of the future generations of all.  If war is necessary to achieve that goal, then it will be a just war--a war of Vigilance, not of Terror.
    

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