More from OBL

If you'd like to read a complete transcript of Osama bin Laden's statement, and I recommend highly that you do, go here. It's not especially long, and the language is very clear. No matter where your political allegiance falls, this is a valuable tool because you're getting bin Laden unspun.

How might this affect the election? It is very difficult to guess. As I pointed out in my blog last night, bin Laden seems to be doing just fine. It's some manhunt we've got going for him if he's able to take time out to produce policy videos. It doesn't support Bush's comment that al Qaeda is "on the run." Will people stop and think, "I thought he was supposed to be hiding?"

On the other hand, he has some very specific and pointed criticisms for Bush. Thankfully he does not "endorse" John Kerry, and as I pointed out last night made an issue of saying that American security does not depend upon the outcome of the election. But you can bet your last dollar that the GOP is spinning this as al Qaeda support for Kerry. Will people buy that?

That's why it's important for people to actually get bin Laden's text for themselves. Pass this around to everyone you know...let people decide for themselves what's accurate and not get their information from partisan spin filtered through corporate news organizations and talking heads.

Among the highlights:

• "Security is an important foundation of human life and free people do not squander their security, contrary to Bush's claims that we hate freedom. Let him tell us why we did not attack Sweden for example. "
• "We fought you because we are free and because we want freedom for our nation. When you squander our security we squander yours."
• "I am surprised by you. Despite entering the fourth year after Sept. 11, Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you and therefore the reasons are still there to repeat what happened."
• "We had no difficulty in dealing with Bush and his administration because they resemble the regimes in our countries, half of which are ruled by the military and the other half by the sons of kings ... They have a lot of pride, arrogance, greed and thievery. "
• "[Bush] adopted despotism and the crushing of freedoms from Arab rulers and called it the Patriot Act under the guise of combating terrorism."
• "It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the American forces (Bush) would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone at a time when they most needed him because he thought listening to a child discussing her goat and its ramming was more important than the planes and their ramming of the skyscrapers. This had given us three times the time needed to carry out the operations, thanks be to God."