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Defiant Bin Laden Video Taunts America, War Preparation Hastened
Bullet-eyed and belligerent, Osama bin Laden yesterday broadcast his defiance to the world by releasing a video in which he is pictured celebrating with his terrorist henchmen in their Afghan mountain stronghold.
The video, believed to have been made after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon on September 11, was released to Qatar's al-Jazeera television station, in a calculated gesture of contempt for America, Britain and the other countries mobilising against him.
The footage was taken at a ceremony celebrating the alliance between Egyptian Islamic Jihad and bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation. Beside bin Laden, with a smile on his lips, stands Ayman Zawahiri, the leader of the Egyptian group.
The 30-second video offered the first glimpse of bin Laden since he was filmed at a wedding in Kandahar earlier this year, when he bragged of the earlier attack on the USS Cole and told his fellow terrorists: "The pieces of the bodies of infidels were flying like dust particles . . . your heart would have been filled with joy." The man accused of masterminding the worst terrorist atrocity of modern times does not speak in yesterday's video; but had no need to, since the stark message of defiance could hardly be clearer.
In one section of the video bin Laden and Mr Zawahiri, who has been charged in connection with the bombings of US embassies in Africa in 1998, carry assault rifles. Drums, singing and gunfire can be heard, celebrating the alliance and the "graduation" of a new group of terrorists.
Behind can be seen allterrain vehicles, a few cement huts and a tented encampment in the rocky Afghan mountains: a site that intelligence services will be trying to pinpoint, but which Bin Laden has doubtless long since left.Al-Jazeera, which has been used by bin Laden as a conduit in the past, did not say how the video had been obtained.
Afghanistan is the only country where bin Laden's propaganda will not be widely seen, since the Taleban has banned television viewing. Bin Laden, his followers in Afghanistan and their Taleban allies have probably not even seen footage of the destruction in New York and Washington.
As al-Qaeda's leader paraded on screen yesterday, the Pentagon was drawing up plans for US combat aircraft to strike against the Taleban in advance of food drops over Afghanistan, as part of a significant tactical switch.
Instead of initially attacking bin Laden and al-Qaeda, military planners are working on plans to strike at the Taleban, despite Washington's reluctance to name the regime as a war target.
The change, yet to win final presidential approval, suggests that the US is still struggling to find bin Laden or his cohorts. Some US planners believe that the best way to locate him would be through Taleban defectors fleeing airstrikes.
According to Pentagon sources the main element of the American plan is waves of sustained strikes against the Taleban's power bases. While aiming to spare roads, bridges and other civilian infrastructure, the Pentagon wants to bombard with precision missiles the various Taleban headquarters, training camps, and military supplies, including airfields and particularly air defence sites.
The Taleban's arsenal includes some 200 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. They can hit aircraft flying as high as 9,800ft and are seen as a risk to transport aircraft dropping aid, and the fighters that the Pentagon said would accompany them. The strategic aim would be to demolish confidence in the Taleban and encourage a revolt among military and civilian supporters.
As the build-up to military action continued, Americans were warned that air strikes could prompt a terrorist reprisal on US soil. Members of Congress have been told by intelligence officials that there is a "100 per cent chance" of retaliation. The White House declined to comment, but reiterated warnings to the public that the threat of more terrorist activity was real.
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