|
‘Bin
Laden’ says US ‘defeat’ in Afghanistan beginning of its end
DOHA — An audiotape said to be
recorded by Osama bin Laden called the United States’ campaign in
Afghanistan a “defeat” which marked “the beginning of its
end,” in a broadcast last night by the Al Jazeera news channel.
“America did not achieve its objectives in Afghanistan. The
Americans got stuck in the Afghan quagmire ... and America’s
defeat in Afghanistan heralds the beginning of its end,” said the
voice purported to be that of Bin Laden.
“The withdrawal of the Taleban forces and the mujahideen (after
the United States launched a military campaign in Afghanistan in
October 2001) was a tactical retreat,” said the voice. “The
situation in Afghanistan has now turned in favour of the mujahideen
... who are waging guerilla warfare” against US forces, the voice
added. The fighters are “currently carrying out an average of two
operations a day against the Americans ... who are in trouble.
“Had it not been for lack of means, the mujahideen would have
increased operations to the level reached during the jihad”
against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the voice said,
urging the Islamic nation to “back the jihad,” or holy war.
“The Americans are no longer capable of protecting their forces,
nor even of putting in place a state (in Afghanistan) capable of
protecting its president.”
In the same, nearly hour-long tape, posted yesterday on the Internet
and partly published in the pan-Arab Al Hayat newspaper, Bin Laden
vowed to pursue his struggle against the United States.
If authenticated, the recording broadcast by the Jihad Forum site
would be the latest proof that Bin Laden had escaped the 2001 US-led
military campaign to flush him and his Al Qaeda operatives from
Afghanistan.
The voice on the tape was very clear and sounded like previous audio
and video recordings allegedly made by Bin Laden. “Regarding this
Zionist Crusader war on the nation of Islam, it is the duty of
Muslims to fight for the sake of God and to incite the faithful to
fight the infidels,” the speaker said.
US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said there had been some
speculation about a second tape swirling around within the
intelligence community for the past couple of days.
“Obviously we haven’t authenticated it. But again, the message
is consistent. The values of the West are anathema to these
people,” he told the ABC This Week programme.
“If you don’t believe, you’re an infidel, and they’re going
to do everything they can to undermine the United States as the
primary target...,” he said.
Jihad Forum said the new message was made on the occasion of the Eid
Al Adha feast.
“It is the utmost duty to fight the enemy that sabotages the
world. The only way to deal a decisive blow in the conflict with the
enemy is through killing and fighting,” the recording said.
The Saudi-owned Al Hayat newspaper first published excerpts of the
recording, which they said could be found on the “Jihad Forum”
site hosted by the website.
It follows another tape broadcast last week by Al Jazeera television
in which Bin Laden called on Muslims to stage suicide attacks to
prevent a US war on Iraq.
Al Jazeera, which normally obtains Bin Laden’s tapes, aired the
latest 53-minute tape retrieved from the Internet over a picture of
Bin Laden in camouflage with a rifle by his side.
Both recordings coincide with a state of high alert in the United
States and its ally Britain.
They said they had concrete information that Al Qaeda was planning a
slew of attacks.
Attacks have in the past followed messages by Bin Laden, and recent
tapes by him have heightened fears of an imminent strike.
Bin Laden said an attack on Iraq would be followed by US
“aggressions” against more Arab countries such as Egypt, Sudan,
Iran and Syria for the benefit of its ally Israel.
“This attack on Iraq is part of a new crusade to prepare the
region, after dividing it, for the creation of a Greater Israel.
This means the whole region will be ruled by Jews,” he said.
The recording began with Bin Laden identifying the United States and
its “foolish” President George W. Bush as the enemy. It said
Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted to carve up the
Middle East like a 1916 British-French pact that divided up the
territory of the Ottoman Empire.
“The United States’ goal to divide the Middle East is not just a
passing fancy,” the Al Qaeda leader said. “The only way to
defeat the infidels is through Holy War.
“Oh Muslims, do not fear America because we have defeated them
repeatedly and they are the most cowardly of people when you meet
them face to face,” he declared.
He lauded wars Muslims had fought and won against “Western
Crusaders” throughout history and recounted the times fighters —
some from his al Qaeda group — had bombed US and Western targets
in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania.
He also praised the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and
Washington, which the United States accuses him of planning, saying
they “exposed the ugly face of America and revealed the reality of
the conflict between Crusaders and Muslims.”
“At a time of great depression for Muslims, when the Zionist
American alliance was killing our sons...a group of youth hijacked
enemy planes in a beautiful, courageous attack.
“They destroyed the idols of America...They rubbed America’s
nose in the dirt and wiped its pride in the mud. They destroyed the
Twin Towers of New York and with that the legend of America, the
superpower”. — Reuters
|
