Peter Bergen CNN National Security Analyst One person who was supposed to weigh in on the American presidential election is someone we have yet to hear from: Osama bin Laden. Four years ago the al Qaeda leader appeared in a well-lit videotape addressing himself directly to the American people five days before they voted in the contest between Sen. John Kerry and George Bush. Bin Laden said then that whoever won the election was immaterial as far as al Qaeda was concerned and that instead Americans needed to change their country’s foreign policies in the Muslim world, or face the consequences. US intelligence officials tracking al Qaeda have been expecting a similar message from the al Qaeda leader in the run-up to this presidential election. Yet, so far, bin Laden has not appeared. There could be several reasons for this. First, the bin Laden tape might still be in the pipeline and will surface in coming weeks having wended its long way via a chain of couriers from his hideout on the Afghan-Pakistan border to be uploaded to a jihadist website or delivered to an Arab TV station. Second, several of the sites where al Qaeda traditionally places its propaganda messages have been taken down in past days. The fact that those sites are down may both be an effort to curtail al Qaeda’s messages to the wider world and also make the terrorist organization go back to its traditional method of communications through Arab TV stations, which are easier for American intelligence agencies to stake out and monitor than anonymous jihadist websites. Third, bin Laden may have concluded that, given the widespread expectation that he would deliver an election-eve tape, that discretion is the better part of valor and for security purposes now is not the time to make an appearance on the world stage. Fourth, militant targets in the tribal regions have been the subject of some 20 American missile attacks since the summer and that may have spooked the al Qaeda leadership, which has not being the subject of such intense missile strikes previously. Those attacks are designed not only to disrupt al Qaeda’s operations, but also to increase the radio or phone communications between militants— signals intelligence known as ‘SIGINT’ —that can be traced by American spy agencies, according to US intelligence and administration officials who track al Qaeda.        Less

'Al-Ekhlass' A website where many of al Qaeda's jihadist messages are posted is offline, having been replaced with the domain joker.com. Octavia Nasr | BIO CNN senior editor for Arab affairs A hacking war is raging on Jihadi websites. Radical Islamist sites have been attacking and getting attacked for quite some time. The website hacking practice was common in 2001 and 2002… Following the 9/11 attacks when al Qaeda used only one website to communicate its messages to supporters and foes alike. That website was called alneda.com. It was getting constantly hacked… sometimes several hackings a day. After every hacking the site managed to resurface on the net until it disappeared from the scene in 2004 to be replaced by other websites — What started as one al Qaeda-linked site mushroomed into dozens which branched out into hundreds of supporting sites that serve as dissemination centers over the internet. Two well-known al Qaeda-linked sites are Al-Hesbah and Al-Ekhlaas. Al-Hesbah is the oldest and requires a username and password to access it. Its membership was open to the public in 2004 but became restricted over the years. This site became known as the first venue for uploaded al Qaeda messages — from Osama bin Laden video messages to statements and claims of responsibilities for attacks carried out in Afghanistan, Iraq or even Europe. Al-Ekhlaas followed with a sleeker image, and more technical bells and whistles. The hacking war works both ways. There are documented cases of extremist groups hacking into local websites that disagree with their messages. One case that drew the attention of western media took place about a month ago when a Sunni group hacked into the site of Shiite Iraqi Cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The group posted a Bill Maher clip making fun of an edict the cleric had made concerning a sexual subject. The group’s claim was that the cleric and his edicts are bringing shame to Islam and giving a good reason for the west to laugh at the Islamic religion. Shortly before September of 2008, al Qaeda watchers started speculating about the next al Qaeda message which they expected to be released around the 9/11 anniversary — a practice al Qaeda and its video arm, As-Sahab, have been consistent about. The message never came partly because those websites were hacked into and completely disabled at times. Today Al-Ekhlaas is off line, having been replaced with the domain joker.com. Trying to go to their site, you get a message saying that “this domain was registered with Joker.com.” Al-Hesbah and a few other al Qaeda-linked sites remain in operation, not because they escaped hacking, but because they manage to resurrect themselves under different names and continue to post messages mainly from al Qaeda enthusiasts. So the drop in al Qaeda-released videos is evident, the lack of messages from al Qaeda leadership is obvious. What is not obvious is whether al Qaeda has decided to slow down production and release of videos or the hacking is so severe and pointed that it paralyzed the media activity of the terror group.        Less

David M. Reisner AC360° Digital Producer 7 years after 9/11 many experts al Qaeda has regrouped, re-organized. The video tapes and audio tapes keep coming… promising more attacks. But those who know al Qaeda best say the only chance we have to defeat it, is to understand its past, see where its strengths lie today, and know where it wants to go in the future. AC360° sat down with Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer prize winning author of “The Looming Tower: al Qaeda and The Road To 9/11″ and CNN Terrorism analyst Peter Bergen, one of the few journalists to have met Osama bin Laden, and author of ‘The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History.” Some of you might be familiar with this special when it first broadcast earlier this year, others may have seen it streamed live on CNN.COM on the 7th anniversary of 9/11. The feedback from both broadcasts was tremendous so we decided to place all parts of the program online for you to view: In part one we investigate the underpinnings of al Qaeda & the man whose trip to America inspired bin Laden’s jihad ___________________________________________________ In part two we investigate bin Laden’s descent into the shadows of radical Islam and a war that made him an underground legend. ___________________________________________________ In part two we look at how and why bin Laden turned his sights on America. ___________________________________________________ In part four we investigate how the terrorist group decimated after the U.S. response to 9/11 could rise again. ___________________________________________________ In part five we investigate how the U.S. and the world can defeat this new type of enemy. ___________________________________________________        Less

Former Chief Investigator (Baghdad) of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity Salam Adhoob discusses how certain members of the Iraqi government are involved in varying degrees of corruption, including funding al-Qaeda in Iraq (0:38). Share This Less

What's the difference between "misspeaking" and just plain having your facts wrong? Today's Lunch takes a look at McCain's continued references to a country that hasn't existed for 16 years. But can Obama capitalize? Less

What's the difference between "misspeaking" and just plain having your facts wrong? Today's Lunch takes a look at McCain's continued references to a country that hasn't existed for 16 years. But can Obama capitalize? Less

360° sorts through one of the largest collections of al Qaeda documents to fall into civilian hands. They reveal the inner workings of al Qaeda in Iraq - providing insight few have ever seen. Editor’s note: CNN has obtained what is believed to be one of the largest collections of internal al Qaeda documents to fall into civilian hands. The videos and documents give fascinating insight into the inner workings of the organization. Watch full report tonight, 10p ET Peter Bergen CNN National Security Analyst In a great journalistic coup, Michael Ware and the CNN team in Iraq have unearthed the largest collection of al Qaeda in Iraq material outside the hands of the US military. What they found in this collection of videos and memos underlines a key aspect of the al Qaeda organization in Iraq; it is highly organized, and not simply a loosely-knit collection of jihadists. A debate has recently erupted in the pages of Foreign Affairs, the leading American journal of international relations, between two scholars of terrorism. On one side is former CIA case officer, Marc Sageman, the author of Leaderless Jihad, who contends that the threat from al Qaeda as an organization is largely over and the new threat comes from “a multitude of informal groups trying to emulate their predecessors by conceiving and executing plans from the bottom up. These ‘homegrown’ wannabes form a scattered global network, a leaderless jihad.” Georgetown University professor Bruce Hoffman, by contrast, argues that the al Qaeda organization, headquartered on the Afghan-Pakistan border, remains the most important threat to American national security. The thousands of pages of documents and scores of videos obtained by CNN will help to move the Sageman-Hoffman debate forward. They show that al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has, in fact, for years been a highly bureaucratized top-down organization with an attention to detail suggestive of the IRS…  AQI recorded detailed battle plans for attacks that would take place over the course of three months; its members filled out application forms; the organization maintained pay sheets for brigade-size units of hundreds of men; it recorded the detailed minutes of meetings, kept prisoner rosters, maintained death lists of enemies, and kept the records of vehicles in its motor pool. Most chillingly AQI’s Anbar province branch videotaped 80 executions, which were not used for propaganda purposes, but simply as a record of having done the job. The AQI documents recovered by CNN are similar to documents discovered by the US military at Sinjar on the Iraqi/Syrian border in the fall of 2007 and subsequently released by West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center. In the Sinjar documents, AQI’s “emirate” on the Iraqi/Syrian border required its non-Iraqi recruits to fill out forms that asked for their countries and cities of origin, real names, aliases, date of birth, who their jihadist ‘coordinator’ was, how they were referred to the al Qaeda in the first place, their occupation, how they entered from Syria, who in Syria had facilitated their travel, an assessment of how they had been treated in Syria, what cash and ID cards they had with them when they arrived in Iraq, any relevant knowledge– such as computer skills–they might have, and whether they were volunteering to be a fighters or suicide attackers. Of the 606 foreign fighters who filled out the documents found at Sinjar few filled out all of this information, but all filled out at least some of it. The CNN and Sinjar documents together show that AQI is not a ‘leaderless jihad’, but rather an insurgent/terrorist organization that has prized order, discipline, and top-down direction. Less

I think everyone remembers where they were when they first heard about the planes flying into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. For our generation, it’s that horrifying moment that matches up with when other generations remember the Kennedy assassination or the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But where were you when the horror of the Bush Administration’s handling of 9/11 began settling in? Its inability to scramble jets that fateful day or the President staying in an elementary school, reading to children about a goat rather than getting up and showing some leadership capabilities? Where were you when the Administration resisted a proper investigation of the attack on America? Philip Shenon, an accomplished and long-time reporter for The New York Times, has written a book that every American should read. The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation is, of all things, a beautifully-written journey into the not-so-bipartisan investigation into the government’s handling of 9/11 and its aftermath. It’s the first book of the 21st Century that could be a proper companion to Woodward and Bernstein’s classic, All the President’s Men. You should read The Commission, and then you should get very, very mad. (Please note: Due to a technical problem, only the first half of this live interview recorded on BlogTalk Radio. If anyone privately recorded it in its entirety, please contact Mr. Media.) Read the complete transcription of this interview HERE! You can also LISTEN to this interview by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! open separate window © 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved. Less

DadLabs Ep. 273 The Lab - Reading to the kids at bedtime isn't just a matter of doing what's good for them (everybody knows the benefits in terms of literacy and vocab), it can also be pure comedic entertainment. Children's literature has come a long way from Dick and Jane. Check out the hilarious and offbeat books that the guys at DadLabs are reading to their own kids. They can actually read. This video is brought to you by BabyBjorn. Here are the great selections from the DadLabs bookshelf: * Slide Already! * The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage) * Meet Wild Boars * How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? * The Sneetches and Other Stories * Charlie Parker Played Be Bop * Baloney (Henry P.) * The Night I Followed the Dog * Frida What are some the titles you love? Your comments on DadLabs.com register you for our exciting BabyBjorn giveaway! Less

Note! Following overwhelming listener demand, the Rage Machine mp3 is now a smaller file size (around 30mb) with little to no reduction in sound quality. Technology RULES! LOTS to talk about this week! Spike is still enraged by the actions of a group of anti-choice protesters and what they tried to show his daughter, he talks exclusively to the man who has the final word; Jesus. He’s disappointed that, being on weekly, he’s late to the party to talk about Britney Spears’ infamously lackluster VMA performance and Chris Crocker’s tearful meme that followed. But that won’t stop him playing it over some really sad music. Why did Bin Laden dye his beard? Is it some sort of message? Some signal? Is something big about to happen? Spike has a good idea why and does the unthinkable… humanises the terrorist leader. The disappearance of the British four year old girl is still ongoing (and going and going and going), Spike gives an update, drops a “Casablanca” quote and stays quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time to prove a point. The peanut gallery is quick to cry “HERPES” when Spike talks about his fever blister and why he’s being forced to drink like he’s had a stroke, there’s another welcome rebuttal-o-sense from Brendan The Iremonger (iremongerlives.blogspot.com) and when is a hate crime not a hate crime…? That one’s up for discussion. Spike hands in his Man Card, declares his intense, burning hate for the James Bond franchise and summarises all 22 of the movies in less than a minute. But he LOVES Harry Potter. Comments? Love ‘em! Leave them here at the blog, or email TheRageMachine@gmail.com Or text/voice/whatever your comments here: http://odeo.com/sendmeamessage/TheRageMachine Less

Today, a note of optimism and a reflection on the power of peace and goodwill. In France and throughout Western Europe, Al Quadea is having some success in exporting its terrorism and anti-Western grievances among the native European Muslim population. But their efforts in America thus far have been extremely week. Why has there been no grievous attack by American Muslims on the USA? Mark’s answer may surprise you, but it’s strong proof that the war on terrorism is being fought and won right here in America. We don’t have to fight in Baghdad to keep them from killing us here in America, “Mark says. It is our fight in America – not our war in Iraq – that is succeeding. And the fight is being won without weapons of war.” Less

Jim Greenfield’s guest is Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a Counter-Terrorism Expert Terrorist enemies keenly watched both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. One clear lesson they will seize on is the inadequacy of the governmental response to Katrina, which suggests that we’re unprepared to handle the effects of a major terrorist attack. Another clear lesson is the U.S. economy’s vulnerability to high energy prices. Less