The cable nets have

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The cable nets have been widely reporting Osama bin Laden’s purported denial of involvement in the horrific attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. Now obviously there’s no reason to believe anything bin Laden says for any number of reasons.

But, in context, the denial isn’t even a denial. The key line is “I would like to assure the world that I did not plan the recent attacks.”

But according to many area experts and ex-intelligence types I’ve spoken to recently bin Laden’s role is seldom to “plan” these events, as in exerting operational control. It’s more a matter of funding them, okaying them, training the perpetrators, and so forth.

I mean, not like we’re going to get into parsing with this #$%&@$*. But, you know, just FYI.

Latest Editors' Blog
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: