Does Our Government Want Us to Know Osama Video is a Fraud?

Secure Computing: Sec-C Hacker Factor Commentary on Computing and Security
reports that the recent Osama Bin Laden video does not prove that Bin Laden is alive and well. The video contains many video and audio splices lacking any current visual content.

"Yet here is Bin Laden in the same clothing, same studio, same studio setup, and same desk THREE YEARS LATER. In fact, his stack of papers that he reads are moved between the exact same stacks. If you overlay the 2007 video with the 2004 video, his face has not changed in three years -- only his beard is darker and the contrast on the picture has been adjusted."

My conclusion is that the Bush Administration would rather we think there is a chance this video could be real, as in unedited, un-spliced and/or un-manipulated, because an atmosphere of ambiguity and doubt keep the fear level much higher than a pervading mood or environment of perspicuity.