It seems that Osama Bin Laden has a favorite book (and author) to recommend to the millions of devoted members of his world-wide book club: none other than "The Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" by William Blum, published by Common Courage Press. Presumably, he's actually read a copy of the book (I see no particular reason to doubt that). William Blum, of course, has long been a scathing critic of the CIA and US foreign policy. Unfortunately (though not surprisingly), that passage was not among the audio excerpts chosen for broadcast by Al-Jazeera. So far, it seems that only Associated Press articles make any reference in print to the book by William Blum -- so those newspapers which ran their own reporters' articles on the story rather than AP wire copy are leaving their readers in the dark about Bin Laden's remarkable reading suggestion. In other words, the papers that really count, like the NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, etc. don't appear to have taken note of the full transcription translation made available by the Associated Press -- which can be found on the Detroit News website: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060120/NATION/6012 00301 Thanks to a report on ABC's early morning news program, I caught wind of this story within the larger story. Not only did they mention the name of the book, they actually showed the cover of the book, full-screen, and even spoke to William Blum himself to close out the report. (A few more stories like that and William Blum might end up on the best-seller list... What a thought.) Craig Gingold (near) Midpines CA +++++++++++++++++ Here are the relevant excerpts from the Associated Press account of Bin Laden's latest audio tape. Whatever else one might say about Bin Laden, I think the passage he chose to quote is really quite extraordinary: CIA Confirms It's Bin Laden on Audiotape By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer Thursday, January 19, 2006 -- CAIRO, Egypt ________ In an Arabic transcription of the entire tape on the Al-Jazeera Web site [the text was translated from the Arabic by The Associated Press] -- but not aired -- bin Laden makes an oblique reference to how to prevent new attacks on the United States, but does not specify if these are conditions for a truce. He told Americans that "if you are sincere in your desire for peace and security, we have answered you. And if Bush decides to carry on with his lies and oppression, then it would be useful for you to read the book 'The Rogue State'," apparently a reference to a book of that title by political analyst William Blum. The book has been published in Arabic. He said the book reads in its introduction, "If I were president, I would stop the attacks on the United States: First I would give an apology to all the widows and orphans and those who were tortured. Then I would announce that American interference in the nations of the world has ended." The Associated Press found a nearly identical passage in another book by Blum: "Freeing The World To Death: Essays on the American Empire," published in 2004. The passage could not, however, be found in the latest edition of "The Rogue State." ======================================================= New Pacifica Working Group http://www.egroups.com/group/NewPacifica 'Save Our Stations!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewPacifica/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: NewPacifica-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/