yahoo.com September 28, 2001

LINK

Bin Laden's Past Words Revisited

By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - All American men are the enemy, Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) says. And the United States owes Muslims $36 trillion, payback for ``the biggest theft'' in history - the purchase of cheap oil from the Persian Gulf.

A book with that and more of bin Laden in his own words has been snapped up by Arabic readers in the weeks since he was named the No. 1 suspect in the Sept. 11 suicide bombings in New York and Washington. The book, ``Bin Laden, Al-Jazeera - and I'' by Jamal Abdul Latif Ismail, includes a 54-page transcript of the complete 1998 interview that was broadcast in abbreviated form on Al-Jazeera, a popular television program.

Al-Jazeera has rebroadcast its version of the interview, conducted by Ismail, since the attacks. Those hungry for more often found copies sold out in book stores across the Mideast. Readers have been borrowing and photocopying the book from friends.

Bin Laden spoke to Ismail in a tent in mountainous southern Afghanistan (news - web sites) four months after the August 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa - attacks in which he's also a suspect.

Bin Laden began the interview with personal notes, saying he was born 45 years ago, in the Muslim year of 1377, in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The family later moved between the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina and the port city of Jiddah.

Bin Laden's father, Muhammad, who was born in the Yemeni region of Hadramawt, was a prominent construction magnate who built the major mosques in Mecca and Medina and undertook repairs on Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock. He died when bin Laden was 10.

After getting a degree in economics at a university in Jiddah, bin Laden joined his father's company before beginning his road to jihad.

Even before President Bush (news - web sites) mentioned the word ``crusade'' in describing the anti-terror campaign, bin Laden was using that term to describe alleged U.S. intentions against Muslims.

``There's a campaign that's part of the ongoing Crusader-Jewish wars against Islam,'' bin Laden told Ismail.

Asked about his 1998 fatwa, or edict, urging Muslims to target not only the U.S. military, but also American civilians, bin Laden said only American men were the target. ``Every American man is an enemy whether he is among the fighters who fight us directly or among those who pay taxes,'' bin Laden said.

Bin Laden claimed Western attacks on Arabs, such as the British-U.S. bombings of Iraq, were directed by Israelis and Jews who have infiltrated the White House, the Defense Department, the State Department and the CIA (news - web sites).

His views on other issues:

- On reports he was trying to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, bin Laden said: ``At a time when Israel stores hundreds of nuclear warheads and bombs and the Western Crusaders control a large percentage of these weapons, this should not be considered an accusation but a right. ... It's like asking a man, 'Why are you such a courageous fighter?' Only an unbalanced person would ask such a question.

``It's the duty of Muslims to own (the weapons), and America knows that, today, Muslims have acquired such a weapon.''

-On whether he's ready to stand trial in an Islamic court: ``We are ready at any time for a legitimate court ... If the plaintiff is the United States of America, we at the same time will sue it for many things ... it committed in the land of Muslims.''

-Bin Laden denied he was behind the 1998 embassy bombings, but acknowledged he ``has incited (Muslims) to wage jihad.''

-Asked about the freezing of his assets, bin Laden said even though the United States has pressured several countries to ``rob us of our rights,'' he and his followers have survived. ``We feel that the whole universe is with us and money is like a passing shadow. We urge Muslims to spend their money on jihad and especially on the movements that have devoted themselves to the killing of Jews and the Crusaders.''

-On the U.S.-backed fight against the Soviet presence in Afghanistan: ``Those who waged jihad in Afghanistan ... knew they could, with a few RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), a few anti-tank mines and a few Kalashnikovs, destroy the biggest military myth humanity has ever known. The biggest military machine was smashed and with it vanished from our minds what's called the superpower.''

- Asked about the money the United States put on his head, bin Laden said: ``Because America worships money, it believes that people think that way too. By Allah, I haven't changed a single man (guard) after these reports.''

- Bin Laden claimed the United States has carried out the ``biggest theft in history'' by buying oil from Persian Gulf countries at low prices. According to bin Laden, a barrel of oil today should cost $144. Based on that calculation, he said, the Americans have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims and they owe each member of the faith $30,000.

``Do you want (Muslims) to remain silent in the face of such a huge theft?'' bin Laden said.

- His message to the world: ``Regimes and the media want to strip us of our manhood. We believe we are men, Muslim men. We should be the ones defending the greatest house in the world, the blessed Kaaba ... and not the female, both Jewish and Christian, American soldiers.'' Bin Laden was referring to the U.S. troops that have deployed in Saudi Arabia since 1990 following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

``The rulers in the region said the Americans would stay a few months, but they lied from the start. ... Months passed, and the first and second years passed and now we're in the ninth year and the Americans lie to everyone. ... The enemy robs the owner, you tell him you're stealing and he tells you, ``It's in my interest.'

``Our goal is to liberate the land of Islam from the infidels and establish the law of Allah.''

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), September 28, 2001

Answers

"Our goal is to liberate the land of Islam from the infidels and establish the law of Allah."

Today the "land of Islam". Tomorrow the world.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), September 28, 2001.

God save us from the "true believers".

-- (Roland@hatemail.com), September 28, 2001.

So oil is underpriced. I'm not clear how this is our nation's fault rather than OPEC's. And are there no Muslims who have been consuming this "cheap" oil.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), September 28, 2001.

now IF enough muslim's ,believe this jazz--guess what???

not saying our govt. hasn,t probably done some no no's.

the politicians & big-money boy's--need to undo some screw-up's.

we DO,have other enemies you know!!

cover my back rambo!

-- al-d. (dogs@zianet.com), September 28, 2001.

Who fronted the capital costs for the oil fields he is talking about? Who invented the technology that discovered the oil fields and makes it possible to be extracted. I don't think this was a case of The Afghani Hillbillies.

"This here's stories about a man named Abdul, A poor Bedouin tryin' to keep his harem fed. Then one day he was huntin' up some Jews, and up from the ground came a bubblin' crude. Oil that is, Black Gold, Saudi Tea...etc.etc."

The man is accusing the west of stealing something that they helped find and invested in developing. True there is the little mattter of the profits made by the american oil companies but it is not like these guys worked years drilling about the sand dunes, found this oil and then we come along and say "Hey that looks kind of interesting, looks real messy though. Probably stain up this nice sand and stick to your tents. We'll give you some salt for your camels if you let us take all of this stuff off your hands." I believe that there has been some incredible wealth accunulated by Arabs from the oil business. It is not our fault that greedy royal bastards and those who accumulated wealth from those bastards (the bin Lauden family?) won't share it with he common islamic serfs.

Roland,

You really shouldn't talk about al-d that way.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), September 29, 2001.

>>>``Every American man is an enemy whether he is among the fighters who fight us directly or among those who pay taxes,'' bin Laden said.

Then how come they're so gung ho cutting the throats of unarmed flight attendants- ie, female non-combatants? Someboy by this jerk a capital 'B'.

>>Asked about the money the United States put on his head, bin Laden said: ``Because America worships money, it believes that people think that way too

...but then...

>>Asked about the money the United States put on his head, bin Laden said: ``Because America worships money, it believes that people think that way too. By Allah, I haven't changed a single man (guard) after these reports.''

- Bin Laden claimed the United States has carried out the ``biggest theft in history'' by buying oil from Persian Gulf countries at low prices. According to bin Laden, a barrel of oil today should cost $144. Based on that calculation, he said, the Americans have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims and they owe each member of the faith $30,000.

OK, it comes out. It's about money. All the evil Americans ever think about is money. And by the way, we want money, lots and lots of it, overflowing and pouring out! Ha Ha!!!

The more I think about it-- the more of a green light the US has for declaring war on Afghanistan today than it EVER had for the original declaration of war against Hitler's Germany. Up until 1941 Germany had never bombed US cities, and had never had generals running about declaring that every American soldier and taxpayer was its enemy. And we sure weren't wetting our pants about how German citizens might be mad at us, and how our neighbors and shopkeepers were Germany.

Then as now, the enemy is the regime, the power center which happens to be located in a certain area.

-- BennyLoudenAndHisKabulaires (Be@Me.Se), September 29, 2001.