Sunday, October 01, 2006

Video of *alleged* hijackers. Should we believe it is authentic, and why?

A videotape of "Mohamed Atta" and "Ziad al-Jarra" has surfaced via the UK Sunday Times newspaper. The newspaper alleges that it was shot in a "training camp in Afghanistan", and the documents were of the mens' "last will and testament". Lip readers have been unable to decipher the words on the soundless tape.

Considering that so many of the videotapes released by alleged "al Qaida" members in the past few years have been proven fraudulent, the issue of "no sound" on this latest release, as well as unidentifiable background, raises the eyebrows again. Then there is the overarching issue of indeterminate "CHAIN OF CUSTODY VERIFICATION". Verification of such is absolutely essential in determining the authenticity and date of any media. Being aware of the CHAIN OF CUSTODY of any videotape allows us to know, with confidence, that it has not (or otherwise) been tampered with, or ended in places and situations where the tape could has been creatively edited, etc.

This particular tape is dated January 18, 2000. How do we know is this date is real? The answer is, we have no idea; the tape could have been shot 10 years, or 10 days ago. Regarding the ongoing series of taped releases from "terrorists", "hijackers" or whatever: Since so many of these recent videotapes have been proven to be faked, a precedent has already been set. Unfortunately, most Americans have seen these fake products presented by national news-anchors in primetime spots, repeated ad nauseam as gospel, unassailable truth; the justification for the wars and anti-people measures that quickly followed on the heels of the 9/11 attacks, as well as a litany of other frauds that have been widely circulated in the weasel-appeaser mainstream media as genuine, on behalf of the myth makers.

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