From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: The Osama Show The Osama Show Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [Several articles on the videotape follow. BBC is quite specific in identifying with whom the person identified as Osama bin Laden is speaking; Reuters and BBC say he is talking to an "unknown sheikh." All the reports contradict the US government's claim that bin Laden "laughed about the fact that the hijackers did not know they were about to lose their lives." The reports say instead that they only knew they were about to be involved in a "martyrdom operation" [Note to US Government: this meant that they knew they were likely going to end up dead] but that no details were revealed to them until the last moment. Neither report mentions mirth or laughing about the hijackers' "martyrdom." The tape was allegedly made on November 9, nearly two months after the attack, and the day that Mazar-i-Sharif was overrun by the Northern Alliance. Odd timing for this "animated" reprise of the attacks, if indeed the players are Osama and his close lieutenants. For some reason, the successful attack on the Pentagon -- an even more spectacular target -- is either not mentioned on the video, or if it is, not reported on here, which is very curious. There is, however, prominent play given to the role of Mohammed Atta, the one hijacker the US says it has absolute, positive ID on. Apparently the sound and video quality are considerably poorer than the average tourist tape taken on a sightseeing trip. There are bits of it available on abcnews.com and several other sites. See http://www.yahoo.com for more links, or wait for your local TV station to present it in all its muddy, grainy glory. BBC commentary suggests that the content of the tape itelf is "bound to be controversial," and it will be interesting to seem how convincing it turns out to be to skeptical allies and public opinion, from whom the US now wants support for bombing more countries. It also remains to be seen if anyone disputes the translation, or whether the tape actually shows Osama bin Laden, after all the talk about his "70 doubles." Much is by the US Government of the fact that the attacks delighted the speakers, which is hardly surprising. Many people around the world reacted with glee and delight when the towers were hit.] BBC Online - Thursday, 13 December, 2001, 17:27 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk US releases Bin Laden video The US has released a video that it says implicates Osama Bin Laden in the 11 September attacks on New York and the Pentagon, in which more than 3,000 people died. In it, the Saudi-born militant suggests that some of the hijackers did not know that their mission was to end in their own deaths. "They were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them until they are there and just before they boarded the plane," he added. Before releasing the tape, the Pentagon asked four nongovernment Arabic-speakers to listen to the remarks and agree on a uniform translation. The 40-minute recording is of very poor audio and visual quality and US officials said that translators worked long to ensure the utmost accuracy before the footage was released. Martyrdom operation Bin Laden is seen in the video with the number two in the al-Qaeda network, Ayman al-Zawahri, and a spokesman, Abu Ghaith, in what the Pentagon says is a guest house in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan. Speaking of the men who carried out the 11 September attack, Bin Laden said: "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," according to the US translation. Bin Laden said that before the attacks on the World Trade Center, he and his men were estimating how many people would be killed. "We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors," he said, gesturing with his hands to show a building and a plane flying into it. "I was the most optimistic of them all," he said. "We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event would take place that day," he said, chuckling. He then described hearing the news reports. "We had finished our work that day and had the radio on," he said. "It was 5:30 pm our time. I was sitting with Dr. Ahmad Abu-al-Khair. "Immediately, we heard the news that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We turned the radio station to the news from Washington. "The news continued and no mention of the attack until the end. At the end of the newscast they reported that a plane just hit the World Trade Center," he said, laughing out loud. Bin Laden says on the tape that he told his followers that there would be more destruction after the first plane hit the World Trade Center. "They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building, so I said to them: be patient," he said with a smile. The US administration hopes the video will bolster international support for the war on terrorism. "For those who see this tape, they'll realise that not only is he guilty of incredible murder, he has no conscience and no soul, that he represents the worst of civilisation," said President George W Bush. Vice-President Dick Cheney and other American officials who have seen the video - believed to have been filmed at a dinner last month - describe it as a "smoking gun" that leaves "no doubt" about the al-Qaeda leader's guilt. Bin Laden identifies Mohamed Atta, suspected of hijacking the first plane, as the group's leader. US Senator Ron Wyden, who has also seen the tape, says he hopes it will remove suspicions in countries such as Pakistan that the 11 September attacks were an Israeli plot aimed at drawing the United States into a war with Islamic countries. "This video will open a lot of eyes," Mr Wyden said. "The world will see that you are dealing with a level of pathology ... that is very, very twisted and sick." Earlier this week, White House officials said Mr Bush was in favour of releasing the video, but had to ensure that the disclosure would not jeopardise American intelligence sources in Afghanistan. * Thursday December 13 2:10 PM ET (via Yahoo) Pentagon Releases bin Laden Tape By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Osama bin Laden contentedly recalled the Sept. 11 suicide attacks against America on a videotape released Thursday by the Pentagon, saying the destruction exceeded his estimates and the events "benefited Islam greatly." "I was the most optimistic of them all" in calculating the possible destruction, bin Laden said with eerie detachment. He said he had reckoned that burning jet fuel would "melt the iron structure" of the World Trade Center twin towers, but only above the point of impact. The hijackings were a martyrdom operation, bin Laden said in a conversation with two aides and a Saudi sheik, but those who carried them out didn't know the details until just before they boarded the planes. The unidentified sheik praised bin Laden for "a great job" and appeared to suggest additional attacks may be planned. "No doubt it is a clear victory... and he (Allah) will give us blessing and more victory during this holy month of Ramadan," he said. Most American Muslims will celebrate the ending of Ramadan on Sunday. Bin Laden, often chuckling and animated, sat with his companions on the floor near the corner of a spare room against a white wall and a light brown wall. He turned mirthful as the discussion turned to dreams uncannily related to the attacks. The tape, amateurish in quality but chilling nonetheless, was released as part of an administration effort to support claims that bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks that killed nearly 3,300 in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. The translation of the Arabic conversation was provided by the administration. President Bush "has known all along that Osama bin Laden was behind this," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, referring to the terrorist attacks. "It came as no surprise to the president." The Pentagon issued a separate statement saying it released the tape after balancing "concerns about any additional pain that could be caused by its release against the value of having the world fully appreciate what we are up against in the war against terrorism." The tape was released as American warplanes intensified bombing runs aimed at members of bin Laden's al-Qaida network struggling for survival in the mountainous terrain of eastern Afghanistan. Bin Laden's whereabouts is unknown - a $25 million reward has been posted for information leading to his capture. "We think he's in Afghanistan. We are chasing him. He is hiding. He does not want us to know where he is," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Weeks ago, administration officials appealed to American broadcast outlets not to air videotapes made by bin Laden, fearing they might contain coded messages to his followers to carry out additional attacks. The quality of the tape released during the day had a home quality to it, punctuated by background noises and occasional coughing - markedly different from the propaganda-style effort prepared by bin Laden's associates earlier. In it, bin Laden discussed some of the planning that led to the attacks, and recalled tuning in to the radio to hear American news broadcasts of the event. "They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building," he said of others listening with him that day. "So I said to them: Be patient." Administration officials have said the tape was found in a house in Jalalabad after anti-Taliban forces moved in, but declined to provide additional details. It bears a date stamp that says it was made Nov. 9, the day the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif fell to the rebel northern alliance. On the tape, shortly after bin Laden enters the room, the sheik thanked him. "You have given us weapons, you have given us hope and we thank Allah for you." "Everybody praises what you did, the great action you did, which was first and foremost by the grace of Allah," the sheik continued. "This is the guidance of Allah and the blessed fruit of Jihad." "Thanks to Allah," replied bin Laden. The sheik informed bin Laden that another cleric had delivered a sermon in Saudi Arabia Sept. 11. "He said this was jihad and those people were not innocent victims," the sheik said, apparently referring to the victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. References to jihad, or holy war, and Allah run throughout the videotape, with and bin Laden at one point expressing satisfaction that at one location in Holland, "The number of people who accepted Islam during the days that followed the operations were more than ... in the last 11 years." Moments later, he said, "This event made people think (about true Islam) which benefited Islam greatly." Bin Laden also went into some detail in discussing some of the events leading up to the suicide hijackings. "We calculated in advance the number of casualties who would be killed based on the position of the tower," he said. "We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors. I was the most optimistic of them all. ... Due to my experience in this field, I was thinking that the fire from the gas in the plane would melt the iron structure of the building and collapse the area where the plane hit, and all the floors above it only. This is all that we had hoped for," he said, gesturing with one hand horizontally striking his other hand, held vertically, as if a plane hitting a building. As for the men who carried out the attacks, he said, "we did not reveal" the plan until "just before they boarded the planes." "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," bin Laden said, according to the U.S. translation. "But they were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them until they are there and just before the boarded the plane," he added. A man identified in the transcript as Muhammad (Atta) ...was in charge of the group," the transcript quotes bin Laden as saying. In Cairo, Atta's father, Mohamed al-Amir al-Sayed Awad Atta, angrily disputed that. He said he had not watched the tape, but said, "All this is a forgery, a fabrication!" * ABC News http://www.abcnews.com Caught on Tape U.S. Officials Say Bin Laden Video Proves Sept. 11 Involvement Osama bin Laden says on a translated videotape released today he and his associates knew the timing of the Sept. 11 hijack attacks days earlier, had calculated how many civilians would die in the World Trade Center and were surprised when the towers collapsed. "[inaudible] We calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy, who would be killed based on the position of the tower," bin Laden said, according to a translation released by the Pentagon along with the amateur videotape. "We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors. I was the most optimistic of them all," bin Laden is quoted as saying in apparent reference to the two hijacked jets that slammed into the World Trade Center. "Due to my experience in this field, I was thinking that the fire from the gas in the plane would melt the iron structure of the building and collapse the area where the plane hit and all the floors above it only. This is all we had hoped for," the translation reads. "We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event would take place that day," bin Laden says, according to the translation. According to the tape, bin Laden also told associates that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers did not know about the details of their mission until just before they boarded the planes. "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," he said, according to the translation of bin Laden's remarks. "But they were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them until they are there and just before they boarded the planes." According to the translation, bin Laden also confirms what U.S. officials have believed about Mohamed Atta, who is thought to have been pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 when it hit the World Trade Center -- that he was the ringleader of the 19 hijackers. "Mohamed [Atta] from the Egyptian family was in charge of the group," bin Laden is quoted as saying. U.S. officials say the just-released videotape proves bin Laden masterminded the Sept. 11 attacks. The Bush administration has called the tape, which officials said was found in a house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the "smoking gun" that proves bin Laden's direct responsibility for the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people. After administration officials debated for days whether to release the approximately hourlong video, the Pentagon fed out the tape to media outlets at about 11 a.m. ET. The video, which starts and stops, is hard to hear, and is taped over some unrelated material, shows the alleged terrorist mastermind describing a dinner meeting he held with his top associates on Sept. 11. The White House said the tape is believed to have been shot Nov. 9 in the southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar, which was the Taliban's spiritual capital. On the video, bin Laden says he and his friends turned on the radio on Sept. 11 at 5:30 p.m. local time -- about 9 a.m. in New York City. Immediately, he says, they heard about the first plane hitting one of the trade towers, and his associates were "overjoyed," bin Laden is translated as saying. "So I said to them: be patient." Bin Laden says he and his friends continued listening to the radio, and soon, "they announced that another plane had hit the World Trade Center. The brothers who heard the news were overjoyed by it." Did Bin Laden Plan Details? The conversation takes place between bin Laden and an unidentified sheik. The sheik assures bin Laden that imams in the mosques of Saudi Arabia are praising his actions. U.S. officials say the tape proves conclusively that bin Laden is responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks. They also believe the tape eliminates the notion that he was above planning details such as choosing targets, and that al Qaeda is composed entirely of autonomous cells. Rather, officials say the tape shows clear evidence of bin Laden's command and direct control of al Qaeda operatives. "For those who see this tape, they realize that not only is he guilty of incredible murder, he has no conscience and no soul," President Bush said Sunday. "He represents the worst of civilization." "The body language that I saw really was just disgusting," Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said earlier this week after viewing the tape. "I mean, that people would take delight in having killed innocent civilians is horrible." There are hopes the tape will justify America's pursuit of bin Laden and the U.S.-led bombing in Afghanistan that began Oct. 7, and convince bin Laden's supporters of the righteousness of the case against him. Not Clear Why Tape Was Made Early reactions to the tape and its impact on skeptics of the U.S. campaign were mixed. Some analysts said it is important that the video shows bin Laden acknowledging a direct role in the Sept. 11 attacks, since many of the world's Muslims do not believe the United States proved its case that he was the plot's mastermind. "This particular piece of information puts this particular criticism to rest," said Fawaz Gerges of Sarah Lawrence College. "It will shatter Osama bin Laden's image and reputation througout the Arab and Muslim world." But Ghida Fakhry, a journalist with the Arabic language television station Al Jazeera, said the ultimate impact of the tape on Arab and Muslim public opinion is questionable, although it could sway some skeptics. "Had it come at an earlier stage of the military campaign, it might have had a much stronger impact," Fakhry said. Many in the Arab world are thinking, she said, "The military campaign [in Afghanistan] is at such an advanced stage, that what difference does it make." Experts have said a cultural and linguistic sensitive translation of the tape was important in order to convince people, especially in the Muslim world, of its authenticity and bin Laden's responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks. The tape was released with English subtitles. According to the Pentagon, the translation was prepared independently by George Michael, a translator from the Diplomatic Language Services, and Kassem M. Wahba, the Arabic language program coordinator from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. They collaborated on their translation and compared it with translations done by the U.S. government for consistency, the Pentagon said. It is unclear why bin Laden's comments were videotaped. One theory is that bin Laden's associates wanted a record of an important day in his quest to create an Islamic world. Another theory holds that the tape could have been intended as a model for future actions. [In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information see: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] =================================================================
