The Bush administration is urging various media outlets not to show the statements made by Osama bin Laden or Sulaiman Abu Ghaith because they may contain some sort of coded message to terrorists. This seems dubious to me. Are we to believe that the only means the terrorists have of communicating with their supporters is by issuing public statements? And if so, are we also to believe that these people won’t be able to obtain access to these statements other than through major U.S. media outlets? Excuse my cynicism, but it seems to me that the administration doesn’t want the statements of their enemies to be broadcast uncensored for other reasons. As far as I’m concerned, it’s news and it should be aired. There’s not much in the statements for Americans to agree with or sympathize with, but the important point here is that people all over the Muslim world are eating this stuff up. It’s important to know about.