"the oppressor nation's media (and the media of close allies) have not been telling the story entirely even-handedly."

If I'm going to believe one news source, it'll be over here where we have freedom of the press and not Propaganda TV in the mideast. I know we have propaganda here, too, but it is usually subtle and not far from the truth since we have plenty of competing news agencies, and it's in their best interest to report the facts.

Hopefully, then, you aren't going to believe one news source, but will piece together your understanding of what's going on through a multitude of news sources. The propaganda here (in the US) is hardly what I would consider "subtle", unless you consider being smacked over the head with a 2x4 subtle. The trouble isn't the "subtle propaganda" that gets printed, it's the volume of what doesn't get printed that's more worrisome -- US media has a distinct tendancy to ignore anything that, on a national scale, casts doubt on US policy, or otherwise portrays the US in a negative light. Why? Because the major US media outlets are owned by large conglomerates that are beholden to the government. Sure, individual reporters may be free of bias, but it's the editors and their superiors that determine the political leanings of what they publish, and those people still curry favour with the politicos. If you want to have any real idea of what's going on in the world, take up reading non-US media. The Gaurdian is a good place to start.

"the reasons that Al Qaeda messages were ``banned'' is that more westerners would begin to understand his concerns."

What do you mean? When were Al Qaeda messages 'banned' and by who? Do you mean the major news networks? The governement couldn't legally ban any information and I don't think that ALL of the news businesses in the west would just suddenly decide not to report something that is certainly newsworthy.

Yes, the government can legally ban any information they want. "I'm sorry... that tape you have of Bin Laden giving a speech? We're in the middle of a war now. You can't play that because it may contain coded messages for his followers. That tape is now classified information." And yes, the media does withhold newsworthy items at the behest of the government, and yes, the government hides information from the media that is of great interest to the public. The magic words are "we're at war".