Originally posted by Seekerof
That is an interesting aspect there, Umbrax, but bear in mind, the same has been said a number of recorded/documented times for OBL:
Another 'Osama Bin Laden is Dead and Buried.'

The Bush administration’s nearly constant focus on suspected Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi as the source of its problems in Iraq has helped turn the Islamic fundamentalist into a figure of mythic proportions, but despite the hype and hyperbole surrounding the mysterious Al-Zarqawi, little is actually known about the man or his alleged misdeeds.

In fact, so many of the US’s claims about Al-Zarqawi’s whereabouts and affiliations have proved suspect or false that many critics view new warnings of his alleged plans to stage attacks within the US as a case of the White House crying wolf.

Now, according to an article posted March 13 on Time magazine’s website, unnamed US intelligence officials say they have evidence that Al-Zarqawi is planning attacks -- at the urging of Osama bin Laden -- on stateside "soft targets," such as "movie theatres, restaurants and schools." Time’s sources attributed this information to a man recently interrogated in Iraq, who they claim was one of Al-Zarqawi’s top aides.

But one day later, MSNBC reported that another unnamed government official -- this one from the Department of Homeland Security -- said such warnings were alarmist and that the informant in Iraq was not a credible source.

As with these new reports, much of the previously released information about Al-Zarqawi has been contradictory. Mostly leaked by unnamed government intelligence and military sources and contained in statements from civilian analysts, "news" of Al-Zarqawi’s whereabouts, alliances, operations and intentions is largely unreliable. In fact, it is nearly impossible to report about Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi as man rather than legend.

The US intelligence apparatus has created it own terrorist organizations. And at the same time, it creates its own terrorist warnings concerning the terrorist organizations which it has itself created. In turn, it has developed a cohesive multibillion dollar counterterrorism program "to go after" these terrorist organizations.

Counterterrorism and war propaganda are intertwined. The propaganda apparatus feeds disinformation into the news chain. The terror warnings must appear to be "genuine". The objective is to present the terror groups as "enemies of America."

The underlying objective is to galvanize public opinion in support of America's war agenda.

The "war on terrorism" requires a humanitarian mandate. The war on terrorism is presented as a "Just War", which is to be fought on moral grounds "to redress a wrong suffered."

The Just War theory defines "good" and "evil." It concretely portrays and personifies the terrorist leaders as "evil individuals".

Several prominent American intellectuals and antiwar activists, who stand firmly opposed to the Bush administration, are nonetheless supporters of the Just War theory: "We are against war in all its forms but we support the campaign against international terrorism."

To reach its foreign policy objectives, the images of terrorism must remain vivid in the minds of the citizens, who are constantly reminded of the terrorist threat.

The propaganda campaign presents the portraits of the leaders behind the terror network. In other words, at the level of what constitutes an "advertising" campaign, "it gives a face to terror." The "war on terrorism" rests on the creation of one or more evil bogeymen, the terror leaders, Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, et al, whose names and photos are presented ad nauseam in daily news reports.

On the face of it, the content reflects much of what Zawahiri and his comrade, Osama bin Laden, have long been saying is the crux of the jihadi cause: Muslim lands have been invaded by infidels; apostate Muslim rulers welcome the invaders. Chief among the infidels are the American occupiers of the "Land of the Two Holy Mosques" (Saudi Arabia) and the Zionist occupiers of the "Holy Sanctuary," or Jerusalem. What's more, the recent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq only add to the humiliation suffered by Muslims, and now a defensive jihad is required against the "Zionist/Crusaders" until they are defeated and expelled from the Islamic world.

Beyond the clamor for continued and spiraling warfare, however, there is a new element in the letter. It is a warning to Zarqawi that the success of the jihad ultimately depends on mass appeal and public support. Without a popular mandate, we are told, the noble warriors, or mujahedin, cannot ensure victory after the infidel invaders are evicted.

But there are reasons to doubt that it is authentic. First is the suspiciously long delay between when the letter was written and when it was made public. Who benefits from this delay if not those who favor voting for the new Iraqi constitution at all costs? Its appearance on the eve of the vote in Iraq reinforces the notion that anarchy will be the only outcome if the constitution is defeated.

And then there is the improbable request for the payment of 100,000 (presumably dollars) from Zarqawi to Zawahiri, when one might have expected the opposite channel of funding. And the bizarre suggestion that if the reader is going to Fallouja, "send greetings to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi." Did the writer of this letter forget that it was already addressed to Zarqawi?

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Jordanian extremist suspected of bloody suicide attacks in Iraq was killed some time ago in U.S. bombing and a letter outlining plans for fomenting sectarian war is a forgery, a statement allegedly from an insurgent group west of the capital said.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in the Sulaimaniyah mountains of northern Iraq “during the American bombing there,” according to a statement circulated in Fallujah this week and signed by the “Leadership of the Allahu Akbar Mujahedeen.”