They say three men can keep a secret if two of them are dead. But these days, even that's no guarantee - you have to make sure to burn the stiffs' worldly goods, too. Who knows what tell-tale clues might lurk in a notebook, journal, pile of letters, answering machine... or videotape.

Osama bin Laden's finding that out to his cost right about now. Courtesy of a videotape we found, we've got Osama with a smoking foot in his mouth. His claims to have had nothing to do with 9/11 have been revealed as lies. In fact, he admits that he was amazed at how well the attacks succeeded - better than he'd dared hope.

Am I skeptical of this tape? Of course. It does seem a little too convenient that we just found it. It also seems too convenient that it reveals what it does; It has a definite air of "Just As I Suspected!" about it. It also seems to be laying some suspicion at the door of the mosques in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia...

And yet, from my reading of the transcript, it seems have the odd ring of truth to it. If it had been faked, it would have been a lot less chatty and more condemning. This isn't just Osama talking about the great stunt his boys just pulled, but also kibitzing, talking about relevant dreams and visions and generally shooting the breeze and playing to the crowds of admirers. This is Osama unplugged, and it shows.

But don't just take my word for it - go see it yourself, if you haven't already. Everyone in America and Europe who's out protesting this war should take a look at this. And they should then ask themselves if maybe - just maybe - in spite of their wish for peace, the world would be no poorer for the absence of this man and his followers?

I hope that every Muslim in the world sees this videotape, too: the many who have excoriated him; the - thankfully - few who have held him up as a hero; the fence-sitters who've disapproved of what happened on 9/11, but not wanted to condemn a brother Muslim; and those marching in protest of America's actions in Afghanistan, led to believe that our presence there was an attack on Islam itself. They should all see this.

They should see with their own eyes, and hear with their own ears, that Osama bin Laden and his followers are not heroes of the people nor defenders of faith. They must see that they are, instead, murderers, liars and cowards. Murderers for slaughtering noncombatants, in spite of the Noble Qu'ran's admonitions not to do so, even in time of noble struggle. Liars for not having the truth in them to stand up proudly for their actions "on behalf of the faith." And cowards, not only for lying, but for sending others to go die and be "martyred" while they sat pretty in Afghanistan and cheered them on.

They should see how obscene these terrorists who dare call themselves Muslims are. They should see how badly these people have misunderstood what the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was trying to do in the name of God. Al-Queda and Osama bin Laden have done worse than merely "misrepresent" Islam - they have smeared it with their own, self-serving aims, and done it an immense harm.

There will be those in the audience - both in the West and the Dar al Islam - who will say this tape a lie. They will say it a clever fake, produced by the American Government to justify its actions. Seeing is not always believing, after all. But I believe that enough good-hearted Muslims will see and hear it, and recognize it for what it is - the final nail in the coffin of Osama bin Laden's claim to be a true warrior of Islam.

As the UAE's Minister of Information and Culture - Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan - said after seeing the tape: "They deserve the punishment that befell them. I go further to say that we, Arabs and Muslims, should punish them for offending Islam, Muslims and Arabs ... (Al Queda is) an extremist and secluded minority group that stands far from Islam and does not comprehend its supreme principles of tolerance and peace."

I am very inclined to agree with him. I am certain we are not the only ones, either.