Osama bin Laden Is Sick ... of the U.S. Dollar

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The U.S. Federal Reserve must be quaking in fear as a result of the latest threat from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. In the second tape of the terrorist leader-in-hiding to air on the Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera this week, bin Laden is alleged to have said:

"It is necessary for us to avoid doing business in the dollar, and to finish with it in the fastest possible time."

I say he was alleged to have made the statement because the tape's authenticity cannot be confirmed.

No doubt, if the speaker is bin Laden, he is aiming his comments at world financial and foreign affairs leaders meeting this week in London to discuss the future of Afghanistan. To which currency would he suggest we all transition? The Yemeni yer?

The only good news out of this latest tape is that Reuters reports:

Saudi-born bin Laden has never been found and is believed to still be hiding in the mountainous border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is known to suffer from ill health.

• Check out our political cartoons.
• Become a political insider: Subscribe to U.S. News Weekly, our digital magazine.
• Follow the Thomas Jefferson Street blog on Twitter.

Reader Comments Read all comments (11)

Add Your Thoughts

Comment Name State Select One AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY International Email

Please enter the two words below into the text field underneath the image.

Incorrect please try again

Enter the words above: Enter the numbers you hear:

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.