From the AP wires

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Colin Powell (news – web sites) told a Senate panel Tuesday that what appears to be a new statement from Osama bin Laden (news – web sites) shows why the world needs to be concerned about Iraqi ties to terrorism.

Powell said he read a transcript of "what bin Laden — or who we believe to be bin Laden" will be saying on the Al-Jazeera Arab satellite station later Tuesday, "where once again he speaks to the people of Iraq and talks about their struggle and how he is in partnership with Iraq."

The bulk of the story is about whether Al-Jazeera has anything like such a tape (they deny it) and whether it strengthens the US case for war against Iraq.

But isn’t the news here that the administration believes (a) that bin Laden is still alive and (b) that he is in a position to communicate through Al-Jazeera, and hence presumably through other sources? Last I checked, out of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, only one has attacked America (or Australia) in the past, and only one can be reasonably thought to be in a position to attack America (or Australia) again any time soon. So why again are we burning all this political and military capital on the other one? Because Osama says he likes Saddam? If Osama said he was still fond of France, would we be bombing there?

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