Videos of Osama bin Laden

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There have been several videos released of Osama bin Laden. Most of these were released to Arab media organisations, such as Al Jazeera. There has been debate in some countries about the propaganda value and the possibility of hidden messages in these tapes. As a result, some countries have not broadcast the tapes in full. The authenticity of some of these tapes is disputed.[1] Osama bin Laden has also been interviewed by journalists, such as Robert Fisk and John Miller. Some audio tapes assumed to be from Osama bin Laden have also appeared.

Contents

[edit] On terrorist attacks

Bin Laden has been interviewed by western journalists and has for several years repeatedly broadcast a list of grievances, which he cites as the reason for his declaration of war against the U.S. Most of these statements have been confirmed as bin Laden's. At least one letter written in Arabic, ostensibly bin Laden's "will", appeared on the Internet but has not been authenticated.

In 1998, Osama Bin Laden had issued a fatwa[2]

We--with God's help--call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it. We also call on Muslim ulema, leaders, youths, and soldiers to launch the raid on Satan's U.S. troops and the devil's supporters allying with them, and to displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson. The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque [Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim.[3]

In an interview with journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai published in TIME Magazine, January 11, 1999, Osama Bin Laden is quoted as saying:

“ "The International Islamic Front for Jihad against the U.S. and Israel has issued a crystal-clear fatwa calling on the Islamic nation to carry on jihad aimed at liberating holy sites. The nation of Muhammad has responded to this appeal. If the instigation for jihad against the Jews and the Americans in order to liberate Al-Aksa Mosque and the Holy Ka'aba Islamic shrines in the Middle East is considered a crime, then let history be a witness that I am a criminal."[4] ”

[edit] Tape released by the U.S. government

[edit] December 13, 2001

On December 13, 2001, the United States State Department released a video tape apparently showing Osama bin Laden speaking with Khaled al-Harbi and other associates, somewhere in Afghanistan, before the U.S. invasion had driven the Taliban regime from Kandahar. The State Department claimed that the tape is authentic and was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan during a raid on a house in Jalalabad.[5] The tape appears to implicate bin Laden in the September 11, 2001 attacks and was aired on many television channels all over the world, with an accompanying English translation provided by the United States Defense Department. In this translation, Osama bin Laden displays knowledge of the timing of the actual attack a few days in advance; the translation attributes the following lines to bin Laden:

"we calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy, who would be killed based on the position of the tower. We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors. I was the most optimistic of them all...We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event would take place that day. We had finished our work that day and had the radio on...Muhammad (Atta) from the Egyptian family (meaning the Al Qaida Egyptian group), was in charge of the group...The brothers, who conducted the operation, all they knew was that they have a martyrdom operation and we asked each of them to go to America but they didn't know anything about the operation, not even one letter. But they were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them until they are there and just before they boarded the planes."[6]

[edit] Authenticity

The authenticity of the tape has been questioned in the Muslim world for the unlikeliness of a taped confession and that bin Laden is seen wearing a gold ring which he has not been seen wearing in any other pictures. The film Loose Change points out another inconsistency, that although the FBI describes bin laden as being left-handed, he is seen in the video writing with his right hand. Some have speculated that this is not so odd; Bin laden is seen writing a note with his right hand in a photo, this photo also contains a journalist. You will also see Bin Laden signing a document with his right hand in the video footage of his arrival in Sudan. The left hand purportedly carries a heavy negative cultural stigma in Arab countries, and using the left hand in public can constitute a serious insult.

Aside from questions of the December 13, 2001 videotape's authenticity, the accuracy of the translation itself was also called into question by the German TV magazine Monitor (Host: Klaus Bednarz/ARD TV) on December 20, 2002 (German transcript[2]), (Summary in English [3]). Monitor presented very specific criticism of two notarized Arab speaking specialists, Abdel El M. Husseini and orient expert Professor Gernot Rotter, who claimed: "The American translators who listened to the tapes and transcribed them apparently wrote a lot of things in that they wanted to hear but that cannot be heard on the tape no matter how many times you listen to it."

The Monitor segment claimed the following parts of the English translation were incorrect:

  1. "... We calculated in advance the number of casualties who would be killed ..." The translation according to Prof. Rotter and Mr. Husseini is however: "... We calculated the number of casualties ..." - That means the words "in advance" didn't appear in the original and have been added in the text translation transcript.
  2. "... We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event would take place that day ..." The translation according to Prof. Rotter and Mr. Husseini is however: "... We had notification since Thursday ..." - "previous" didn't appear on the original tape, nor does the subsequent statement "... that the event would take place that day ...".
  3. "... we asked each of them to go to America ..." The translation according to Prof. Rotter and Mr. Husseini is however in the passive voice, something like: "... they were required ... (rest inaudible).

The English language transcript and annotations linked on CNN's website, however, were independently prepared by George Michael, translator, Diplomatic Language Services; and Dr. Kassem M. Wahba, Arabic language program coordinator, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. They collaborated on their translation and compared it with translations done by the U.S. government for consistency; they concluded there were no inconsistencies in the translations."[7]

After the tape was released, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "How could there be a doubt in anyone's mind any longer about what we have said from the very, very beginning, that he was the mastermind, he is the head of an organization that participates in this kind of evil activity?" President George W. Bush said it proved bin Laden "has no conscience and no soul".

Ali Abunimah, vice president of the Arab-American Action Network, said that "[t]he tape should dispel any remaining doubt that bin Laden is an evil villain and responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. Most serious people didn't need this tape to be convinced. The tapes that had already been released [by bin Laden] made it clear since he all but took responsibility for the attacks." Viewers of Al-Jazeera seemed unconvinced, at least one saying that bin Laden could have just been bragging to impress his host.

[edit] Bin Laden Denial

Bin Laden denied involvement with the 9/11 attacks five days later on the Al-Jazeera satellite channel:

"I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation ... "

This denial was broadcast worldwide, but the Bush administration urged media in the U.S. not to show the video as they claimed it might contain signals to other elements of al-Qaeda.

On September 28, 2001 in the Pakistani newspaper Daily Ummat [4], bin Laden again denied any involvement with the attacks, and suggested he was being framed:

"I have already said that I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other humans as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children and other people ..."
"There exists a government within the government of the United States. That secret government must be asked as to who carried out these attacks. The United States should trace the perpetrators of these attacks to those persons who want to make the present century a century of conflict between Islam and Christianity so that their own nation could survive."

[edit] Tapes released by Al Jazeera

Many of the Osama bin Laden tapes have been released directly (by mail or messenger) to Arabic language satellite television networks like Al Jazeera or Al Araabiya.

[edit] October 29, 2004

Main article: 2004 bin Laden video

On 29 October 2004, Arab television network Al Jazeera broadcast a video tape, 18 minutes in length, of what appears to be Osama bin Laden, addressing citizens of the United States. According to the English translation distributed by the media, he seems to suggest that the September 11, 2001 attacks were his idea and that he agreed with Mohammed Atta on how to carry them out. The release of the tape was reportedly timed to come just four days before the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

[edit] January 19, 2006

Main article: 19 January 2006 Osama bin Laden tape

On 19 January 2006, Al Jazeera broadcast an audiotape of Osama bin Laden again addressing citizens of the United States [5].

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[edit] April 23, 2006

On 23 April 2006, Al Jazeera broadcast parts of an audiotape. On this tape bin Laden accuses the Western world of waging a Zionist crusade against Islam [6]. He comments on Hamas, Darfur and the situation in Iraq.

[edit] May 23rd, 2006

On May 23rd 2006 Al Jazeera broadcasted a 5 minute audiotape from bin Laden. On this tape bin Laden commented on the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and the imprisoned journalists Sami al-Hajj and Tayssir Alouni. He denied that any of these (apart from a few Guantanamo Bay prisoners) were connected with Al-Qaeda.[8]

[edit] June 30, 2006

On June 30, 2006, an Islamist website posted a recording in which bin Laden praised Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a "lion of holy war". The nineteen-minute video shows a still picture of Bin Laden next to video celebrating al-Zarqawi. US officials said the tape was authentic.[9]

[edit] September 7, 2006

On September 7th, 2006 another tape was released to al-Jazeera. [7] This video was released four days prior to the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It was also suggested by Michael P. Jackson, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, that this video could have possibly been a signal to Al-Qaeda supporters in the United States to initiate a terrorist attack on the fifth anniversary of 9/11. However no such attacks came to pass.

[edit] Timeline and contradictions

On September 16, 2001 Osama bin Laden issued the following statement via al Jazeera in reference to the 9/11 attacks: "I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation." [8]

On December 9, 2001 U.S. military forces in Jalalabad found a video tape of bin Laden[9].

On December 27, 2001, a second bin Laden video was broadcast on al Jazeera [10]. The tape was reportedly made after November 16, 2001 [11]. There were notable differences in the appearance of bin Laden in the two tapes, although it is notable that they were shot under very different lighting conditions and that the quality of the Jalalabad tape is not very good, making direct comparisons somewhat less than reliable.

Some accounts claimed bin Laden was suffering from Hepatitis C, [12] and Peter Bergen said: “ This is a man who was clearly not well. I mean, as you see from these pictures here, he's really, by December [2001] he's looking pretty terrible. … he's barely moving the left side of his body. So he's clearly got diabetes. He has low blood pressure. He's got a wound in his foot. He's apparently got dialysis ... for kidney problems. :"He could already be dead, but we need to keep searching for him" [13]

The recording was dismissed by the Bush administration as propaganda possibly designed to mask the fact the Al-Qaeda leader was already dead. "He could have made the video and then ordered that it be released in the event of his death," said one White House aide. [14]

Other prominent figures expressed confusion on bin Laden's status. In January 2002, Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf stated "I would give the first priority that he is dead and the second priority that he is alive somewhere in Afghanistan." [15] In October 2002, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai said "I would come to believe that [bin Laden] probably is dead. But still, you never know. He might be alive. Five months ago, six months ago, I was thinking that he was alive. The more we don't hear of him, and the more time passes, there is the likelihood that he probably is either dead or seriously wounded somewhere".[16] In July 2002, US Federal Bureau of Investigation's counter-terrorism chief, Dale Watson , stated "Is (Bin Laden) alive or is he dead? I am not really sure of the answer... I personally think he is probably not with us anymore but I have no evidence to support that." [17]

On December 26, 2001 FOXNews reported “Osama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al-Qaeda leader.” [18] The World Tribune subsequently reported “Israel and the United States assess that Bin Laden probably died in the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan in December [2001]. They said the emergence of new messages by Bin Laden are probably fabrications.” [19]

On September 9, 2002 an audio tape made by bin Laden was broadcast on al Jazeera. [20] US intelligence officials concluded the tape was genuine [21], as did French researcher Bernard Gautheron, director of the phonetic testing laboratory at the Institute of Linguistics and Phonetics in Paris [22]. Researchers at the Dalle Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence, in Martigny, Switzerland, claimed they were 95% sure the recording was a fake [23], but they since have refused to evaluate subsequent tapes [24].

On February 12, 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Senate panel that he had reviewed a transcript of a message from bin Laden stating he was “partnership with Iraq" which was to be broadcast on al Jazeera. [25] Al Jazeera initially denied having the tape, [26] but subsequently located it. [27]

Taken from the 29/10/2004 Osama bin Laden video.
Taken from the 29/10/2004 Osama bin Laden video.

On October 29, 2004, two days before the US elections, the Arab television network al Jazeera broadcast a videotape apparently showing bin Laden addressing the people of the United States. In this video he appears to take credit for the idea to attack the WTC towers. He also condemns the Bush government's response to the attacks, and presents the attacks as part of a campaign of revenge and deterrence begun after personally seeing the destruction of the Lebanese Civil War in 1982. See 2004 Osama bin Laden video.

Walter Cronkite said of the video “I'm a little inclined to think that Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, he probably set up bin Laden to this thing.” [28] President Bush opened up a six-point lead over John Kerry in the first opinion poll to include sampling taken after the videotape was broadcast. [29]

On 23 May 2006, another audiotape purportedly of bin Laden surfaced on the Internet. On the tape bin Laden claims that it was he alone who assigned the hijackers to perform the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and that Zacarias Moussaoui had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. "He had no connection at all with Sept. 11. I am the one in charge of the 19 brothers and I never assigned brother Zacarias to be with them in that mission. I am certain of what I say because I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers ... with the raids," said bin Laden who was speaking about the 9/11 hijackers. He also claimed that all of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay had nothing to do with the September 11th attacks"[30].

[edit] Videos of Osama bin Laden in popular culture

The Australian comedy group, The Chaser features a recurring segment named "A Message From Osama Bin Laden" on their most recent series, The Chaser's War on Everything. An existing video of the infamous terrorist Osama Bin Laden is subbed with incorrect and humorous subtitles, often declaring a Jihad on various people for arbitrary irritations.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Fake bin Laden Video Tape by Michael Rivero. www.whatreallyhappened.com
  2. ^ Original Arabic fatwa published in the newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi (London, UK) on 23 February, 1998, p. 3 .
  3. ^ English version of the fatwa translated by the Federation of American Scientists of the original Arabic document [1] published in the newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi (London, UK) on 23 February, 1998, p. 3 .
  4. ^ "Conversation With Terror", January 11, 1999, interview between Osama Bin Laden and journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai of the News of Pakistan, TIME Magazine, and ABC News.
  5. ^ U.S. RELEASES VIDEOTAPE OF OSAMA BIN LADEN (September 13, 2001). Retrieved on 2006-07-04.
  6. ^ TRANSCRIPT OF USAMA BIN LADEN VIDEO TAPE (September 13, 2001). Retrieved on 2006-07-04.
  7. ^ Transcript of Osama bin Laden videotape. CNN (September 13, 2001). Retrieved on 2006-07-04.
  8. ^ CNN May 23rd 2006
  9. ^ New Bin Laden message is released. Middle East News. BBC (2006). Retrieved on 2006-07-01.

[edit] External links

  • CNN.com Tapes shed new light on bin Laden's network
  • BBC transcripts and news items of the December 13 2001 tape
  • US Government transcript of the December 13 2001 tape (PDF)
  • Guardian resume of January 19th 2006 tape.
  • Guardian about Moussaoui and Guantanamo Bay of May 23rd 2006 tape.
  • Guardian May 23rd tape 2006 about Sami al-Hajj and Tayssir Alouni.
  • Guardian resume of June 30th 2006 tape.
  • Guardian Unlimited List of all al-Qaida tapes.
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