The alleged Osama bin Laden statement recently published on Azzam's site we do not believe is Osama bin Laden’s. We ignored this piece until we realized that many viewers were sending it in thinking it was authentic. Many things in this alleged address didn’t add up for us but we eventually published it with an Editor’s note, sharing our concerns. We have translated hundreds of pages of OBL and have some expertise in this area. We believe that it is our job to share what information we have so that our viewers have all of the facts. Today, we still do not believe this is authentic OBL for the following reasons:

1. It has never appeared on Arab sources that are known for disseminating OBL material - not on Al Jazeera, not on Alneda, Jehad.net or any of the known places for this information. Bin Laden always issues statements through Arab sources, which Azzam is not.
   
   
2. It was unsigned and undated and until recently, no accreditation whatsoever appeared about the source of this alleged address when it first appeared on Azzam’s site. Azzam now attributes this piece to Yosi Fouda however one thing is for sure, Fouda has ties to Al Jazeera and if this were a legitimate piece, AJ would have run it. Alternately, if it was real – it would be everywhere!!
   
   
3. The content of this piece is not typical Bin Laden and it is a stretch to think that he would address the American media. He cares not what the American press thinks, which on any given day says a variety of things about him. He cares about Allah and the Ummah. Further, the alleged statement came only a few days following his last major statement, which was the first in a long while and it defies logic that he would risk issuing another address within such a short time frame.
   
   
4. Even the opening statement of this address negates his previous positions which to date have been absolutely consistent.

This is strictly our opinion but one that is founded on the same basis that we determine the authenticity of any other piece that we publish. If we have concerns about its authenticity, we flag it with an Editor’s note and we leave the decision to our viewers, who have their own intelligence with which to make a decision.

Azzam’s latest slight against JUS comes over the alleged casualty shot that is currently published on their site and raises the possibility that our brothers do not know how to verify a valid photograph when they see one. We did not pick this picture up as it is obviously computer-generated, which even the untrained eye can see. We have not addressed this is a major way on the site to avoid embarrassing our brothers but we publish it now here so that in future, everyone will have the knowledge to determine whether a photograph is authentic or not.

We would all love to have an abundance of visual proof of what we know is the truth about American casualties, which is near impossible considering the current state of lock down in Afghanistan. The alleged casualty has two big problems – there are two different resolutions in one picture which only results in computer-generated art and it lacks perspective (the soldier is laid over the rocks without the proper perspective that would occur in real life). Below you will find the alleged casualty, along with what we believe may be the original shot (from CNN) and another shot we have created using the same source photo and a different background. You be the judge.

We do not believe that publishing this kind of information helps the Muslims cause. We must put out valid material if we are to be taken seriously.

As a revert, I come willingly to Islam – I am not a Muslim in name but in faith. I have been blessed with some very knowledgeable brothers who assist me daily to understand Islam’s practical application. I have tried in every possible way to support the efforts of Azzam and Maktabah Al Ansaar however I do not serve either – I serve Allah and Allah expects me to publish at the best level possible, even when it is unpopular.

The timing of this latest attack is curious indeed – it came only a day after we launched our Video Store. Our tapes come from direct sources in Saudi Arabia and we will continue to purchase from these sources unless Maktabah Al Ansaar becomes competitive in their pricing.

So there you have it. We are not the CIA and both Azzam and Maktabah Al Ansaar are fully aware of that fact. We do not buy our tapes from them and we do not publish computer-generated casualty shots. We use the best of our intelligence in evaluating news, footage and photos. We are not infallible and can certainly err in our judgment however that does not negate the fact that we do our very best to serve this Ummah.

Many people wonder why our site hasn’t been down – indeed it has, it is just that we planned for this from the beginning. We have been forced to changed locations three times to date however we are technically knowledgeable and therefore we have only experienced one small down in moving so far. We experience identically the same problems as the others and we expect more of this not less.

The CIA accusation doesn’t cut water either. Surely the CIA puts out disinformation but logic defies this accusation for several reasons. Firstly, what would they achieve? A list of email addresses and IP addresses of faceless Muslims and non-Muslims with no other information? JUS get approximately 500,000 hits a day and the cost of producing JUS, let alone trying to develop some kind of tangible leads based on IPs and emails, would make this price prohibitive. Secondly, the CIA may be involved in disinformation but never would they put out Casualty Reports and send them to the media as JUS has done – this is the Bush administration's worse nightmare. The CIA are budget and resource restricted – they wouldn’t play around at this level for some possible low level gain nor would they break the cardinal casualty rule.