Bin Laden has avoided capture since the 2001 attacks on the US
An image made from video, provided by IntelCenter Monday Sept.. 14, 2009, shows a frame from the video released by Al-Qaida showing a still image of Osama bin Laden. According to a transcript of the tape released by the terrorist organizations media wing, the Al-Qaida leade says President Barack Obama is "powerless" to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "This image was provided via the IntelCenter, which is a private contractor working for intelligence agencies."
This handout provided by IntelCenter and taken from Al-Qaeda's as-Sahab Media in January 2009 shows Osama bin Laden. The United States on Saturday downplayed the latest audio recording by Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, saying there was nothing new about the tape
A new audio tape has surfaced on an Islamist website in which al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden sends a message to the American people. Titled "Message to the American People," the video -- released by the As-Sahab media branch of Al-Qaeda -- features a still image of bin Laden and an audio statement, said the IntelCenter US monitoring group.
In the ten minute recording the voice which is purported to be that of America's most wanted terrorist, says the U.S. president is "powerless" to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The authenticity of the audio recording could not be independently verified.
The message was released by As-Sahab, Al-Qaeda's media wing, and distributed to several Jihadist websites. Part of the taped message condemns the United States support of Israel.
"We have already shown, and we have stated many times in more than two decades since the start of our disagreement with you, which is caused by your support for the Israelis who are occupying our land of Palestine, and which led us to carry out the events on September 11, 2001," the voice says.
"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," the voice in the tape says.
In several parts of the tape, the al-Qaeda leader refers to recent events. He refers to Obama's speech in Cairo, which took place on June 4, and about former President Jimmy Carter's visit to Gaza in June. Bin Laden also condemned the Israeli invasion of Gaza, earlier this year, saying that American bombs were used by Israel during the conflict.
The terror leader said the United States should work towards Iraq's release instead of "fighting for its liberation." If not, President Obama could suffer "the same fate as former President Kennedy and his brother," bin Laden said.
Both President Kennedy and his brother Robert were assassinated. The al-Qaeda number one also criticized Obama's decision to keep Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, saying the Bush-era leadership at the Pentagon had remained in place. Obama's promise to cooperate with the Republicans was in reality a "cover" and a "big trick" to let Gates remain on his current post, Osama claimed. "You have only changed the faces in the White House," Osama bin Laden said.
The message which comes just two days after the U.S. marked the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on America, carries much of the same rhetoric seen in previous recordings.
"We carry our weapons, fighting evil from East to West," Bin Laden said, and insisted that "Patience is our weapon." and that al-Qaeda would "Never compromise." In his last known message, in June, he said that U.S. President Barack Obama had planted the seeds of "revenge and hatred" towards the US in the Muslim world. Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding in the mountainous terrain on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Change in Speech Technique Bin Laden"There is a relatively new change, there is a transformation ... He is not giving any warnings and is seeking to justify the September 11 attacks," said Diaa Rashwan, a leading expert on militant groups.
Analysts said Monday that the message's tone and its unusually short length — only 11 minutes, far shorter than others released by al-Qaida to mark the anniversary — was an indication that al-Qaida was struggling to maintain interest eight years after its most shattering terror attacks.
"You might interpret this as a sign of weakness, the suggestion being that they don't really want to fight the U.S.," Jeremy Binnie, an analyst with Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center, said of bin Laden's tone."For the first time, he didn't mention or praise the martyrs who perpetrated the September 11 attacks," said Rashwan, who is deputy head of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.
Bin Laden also praised President Obama for having "admitted at last in his speech in Cairo, the existence of our people's miseries." He also praised "former President Carter's statements about the Palestinians during his last visit in Gaza, and particularly his statements on Israel's racism."
The short message was in sharp contrast to others issued around the Sept. 11 anniversary. In 2007, al-Qaida marked the anniversary with multiple videos by several of its leaders, including bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahri. Just last year, it issued a massive 90-minute opus summing up seven years of struggle around the world.
Theodore Karacic, head of research and development at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), agrees.
"It's important that we're hearing his voice again after a while and it's coming at the time of the September 11 anniversary," Karacic said in Dubai.
"It's too much bluster, bin Laden is not putting any emphasis on action ... his comment is a political statement rather than a dire warning."
Bin Laden recommend booksQaeda leader described three books that he says support his analysis of global politics and the systematic maltreatment of Muslims at the hands of America and her allies.
1. “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” by Stephen M. Walt, a professor of international affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and John J. Mearsheimer, a political scientist at the University of Chicago. Published in 2007, the book argues that uncritical American support for Israel, shaped by powerful lobbying organizations like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, does grave harm to both American and Israeli interests. The voice on the tape gives the title of the book as “The Israeli Lobby in the United States,” according to the SITE translation.
2. “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” in which former President Jimmy Carter gives his views about how best to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, and criticizes Israeli treatment of Palestinians in the territories. While the voice on the tape does not mention this book by name, it calls on Americans to “read what your former president, Carter, wrote regarding Israeli racism against our people in Palestine,” in a characterization of the book that goes beyond Mr. Carter’s own language.
3. The third book referred to on the tape is called “The Apology of a Hired Killer,” according to the SITE translation. The book is said to have been written by “a former CIA agent who lived in two cultures, whose conscience was awakened in his third decade and decided to say the truth despite threats.” The voice on the tape says that this author is “the best to clarify to you the causes of the eleventh,” apparently meaning the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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