Sen. John Kerry greets the crowd at a rally in Appleton, Wis., Saturday.
After initial hesitation, the Democratic candidate comes out swinging on the Osama video.
By Tim Grieve
Oct. 30, 2004 / APPLETON, Wis. -- At a rally in Miami Friday night, John Kerry said Bruce Springsteen had provided the theme for his campaign: "No retreat, baby, no surrender." But then Kerry delivered a speech in which he seemed to do a little bit of both. On a day when a new videotape showed pretty conclusively that Osama bin Laden was neither dead nor "on the run," Kerry said nothing at all about the terrorist leader or the Bush administration's failure to capture him.
Saturday morning in Wisconsin, Kerry had his backbone back. At a rally on a muddy football field in Appleton, Kerry made the point that many in his party were waiting to hear from him: If Bush hadn't diverted the military's attention from the war on terrorism to the war in Iraq, bin Laden wouldn't be making any videotapes today.
"As I have said for two years now, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida were cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora, and it was wrong to outsource the job of capturing them to Afghan warlords who a week earlier were fighting against us," Kerry said. Instead, Bush should have relied on U.S. troops, he said, soldiers "who wanted to avenge America for what happened in New York and Pennsylvania and Washington."
"It was wrong to divert our forces from Afghanistan so we could rush to war in Iraq without a plan to win the peace," Kerry said. "I will lead the world in fighting a smarter, more effective, tougher, more strategic war on terror, and we will make America safer."
Kerry's speech was a clear signal that, after a moment of hesitation in Miami Friday night, he won't be cowed by Republican charges that he has politicized the bin Laden tape. Kerry said nothing at all about bin Laden at the Miami rally, his only public event after the tape aired Friday afternoon. But the campaigns weren't done with bin Laden yet. Late into the night Friday, aides to Kerry and Bush played a high-altitude, cross-country pissing match about which candidate was "playing politics" with the tape.
On the late-night flight from Florida to Wisconsin -- usually a time for drinking and sleeping -- Kerry aides worked reporters on the press plane. Back in Washington, Kerry advisor Joe Lockhart held an unusual late-night conference call with reporters. Their predictable point: While the Bush team was accusing Kerry of making inappropriate, politically driven remarks about bin Laden Friday, the president crossed the line first and with much more partisan fervor.
Bush was apparently briefed on the tape Friday morning on Air Force One. After that briefing, he launched into his usual attacks on Kerry: He doesn't understand that Sept. 11 changed the world; he views the war on terrorism as a law enforcement action; he thinks the United States "must get permission from foreign capitals before we act in our own defense"; and he has "chosen the position of weakness and inaction."
Kerry learned of the tape later in the day, just after he spoke to a rally in West Palm Beach. As he frequently does, Kerry conducted a round of interviews with local TV stations immediately after the rally. In one of the interviews, Kerry said what he has said a thousand times before: Bush dropped the ball on bin Laden in Tora Bora by leaving Afghan warlords rather than the U.S. military in charge of the hunt. A few minutes later on the tarmac at the Palm Beach Airport, Kerry made a more cautious statement about the tape -- one he repeated in the course of his speech in Wisconsin Saturday. In the airport statement, Kerry said that "Americans are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists."
Bush followed with a strikingly similar statement Friday, saying that "Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country." He added: "I'm sure Sen. Kerry agrees with this." But then, a short time later in Columbus, Ohio, the president railed against Kerry for his comments about Tora Bora, calling them "especially shameful in light of a new tape from the nation's enemy."
On the late-night call with reporters, Lockhart said Kerry knew only of the tape's existence -- and not its contents -- when he made the Tora Bora comments Friday. He then complained about the Bush campaign's loose association with the truth. "One more time, this administration can't tell the truth, and everybody on this call, I think, has a personal experience with being deceived by someone in the White House, of being lied to by someone in there, and you just have to go back in your memory bank and think whether you can trust what they say or whether you can trust what we say."
Saturday morning, the Bush campaign pushed back, e-mailing reporters excerpts from columns by David Brooks and Bill Kristol excoriating Kerry for talking about Tora Bora on the day the tape was released. Kristol wrote: "Is there any development in the war on terror, however grave, that the Kerry campaign won't try to exploit for partisan advantage"?
Of course, Bush has built his entire campaign around the gravest "development" in the war on terror, the attacks of Sept. 11. He talks about the attacks every day on the stump, just as he did Saturday morning in his weekly radio address. "Since September the 11th, 2001, I have led a relentless campaign against the terrorists," Bush said. "We have strengthened homeland security. We removed terror regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are on the offensive around the world, because the best way to prevent future attacks is to go after the enemy."
Bush then said, "My opponent has a different view," before launching again into his usual attacks on Kerry.
Speaking to reporters in Appleton Saturday morning, Kerry spokesman Mike McCurry said the Kerry campaign "will not yield at all" in arguing that the "diversion of resources to Iraq left Osama bin Laden free to wander the globe."
Why didn't Kerry stay on the attack Friday night in Florida? McCurry said Kerry sometimes uses the Tora Bora argument in his speeches and sometimes doesn't, implying that the decision to exclude it in Miami was somehow just a coincidence. But nothing a candidate says -- or doesn't say -- this late in the game happens by accident, and the Kerry campaign was clearly struggling to find the right message Friday.
By Saturday morning, McCurry seemed confident that the campaign had settled on a "winning argument" -- about bin Laden and about everything else. He said the bin Laden tape, together with the story of the missing munitions from Al Qaqaa, "crystallizes" the question facing voters Tuesday.
But like everyone else, McCurry acknowledged that it's too early to tell whether the bin Laden tape will move voters -- or where. "What will be the impact of this, I don't know and you don't know," McCurry told reporters who crowded around him inside a school gymnasium in Appleton. "You can teach it round, you can teach it flat. We'll know Tuesday night."
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About the writer Tim Grieve is a senior writer for Salon based in San Francisco.
Resurfacing after a year, he cites American involvement in Lebanon in 1982 and says neither Bush nor Kerry can guarantee security.
By Josh Meyer Times Staff Writer
October 30, 2004
WASHINGTON — Four days before the U.S. presidential election, Osama bin Laden appeared on a videotape broadcast worldwide Friday, describing his motives for plotting the Sept. 11 attacks and telling Americans that they can save themselves from future violence by not supporting a crackdown on his Al Qaeda network.
Appearing healthy and looking directly into the camera, Bin Laden said that neither President Bush nor his Democratic rival, Sen. John F. Kerry, held the keys to American security. "O American people, I am speaking to tell you about the ideal way to avoid another Manhattan…. Your security is in your own hands and each state which does not harm our security will remain safe."
The tape, portions of which were aired first on the Arabic-language Al Jazeera satellite television channel, marked the first time in a year that the Al Qaeda leader had appeared on videotape. It was also the first time since December 2001 that Bin Laden had made a lengthy address on videotape.
In the tape, Bin Laden said the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington had been inspired by his anger over the U.S. role in Israel's 1982 occupation of Lebanon. He had admitted his role in the attacks in a videotape in December 2001.
The tape added an uncertain element to the waning days of the presidential campaign and prompted quick responses from the candidates. For months, Bush and Kerry have made the U.S.-declared war on terrorism a central theme in their campaigns, and on Friday each asserted that Bin Laden's remarks were further proof that voters should elect him Tuesday.
At a campaign stop in West Palm Beach, Fla., Kerry said, "Let me make it clear — crystal clear: As Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. They are barbarians. And I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes. Period."
After a campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, Bush read a short statement on the airport tarmac. He took no questions.
"Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I'm sure Sen. Kerry agrees with this," Bush said. "I also want to say to the American people that we're at war with these terrorists. And I'm confident that we will prevail."
In a separate television interview, Kerry renewed his attacks on Bush for failing to capture the Al Qaeda leader during the battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan in late 2001.
That prompted Bush to strike back, calling those remarks "the worst kind of Monday-morning quarterbacking."
Observers suggested that it was too soon to say how Bin Laden's resurfacing might affect the outcome of the presidential election, if at all.
"You can argue that it shifts attention back to the global war on terrorism and away from Iraq, the economy and healthcare," said Charles Cook, publisher of the Cook Political Report, an independent election guide. "Or you can argue that it reminds people that Bin Laden was never caught, that we put the emphasis on Iraq and Saddam Hussein instead."
U.S. counter-terrorism officials and experts agreed that Bin Laden's taped message appeared timed to affect the election, but it was unclear how. Bin Laden was dismissive of both major candidates, although most of his scorn centered on Bush.
It was also unclear whether it portends a new attack. "The very fact that he appeared is significant and cause for concern, in and of itself. But the message itself is not a blood-curdling one," said one U.S. official who was familiar with the tape.
"He does not have a rifle in this one. He's not in cammies," the official said, referring to military fatigues. "There was no explicit threat…. But I emphasize we're early on in analyzing this. Does concern remain high? You bet."
In the past, Bin Laden and top deputy Ayman Zawahiri have appeared on such tapes shortly before attacks occurred, including the strikes on two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998 and on the U.S. destroyer Cole in 2000. Often Bin Laden and Zawahiri wore camouflage or displayed rifles or daggers, senior intelligence officials said.
In other cases, no attacks have occurred, particularly after the release of tapes in which no weapons or other symbols of war were visible, they noted. Nevertheless, authorities have been warning for months that intelligence indicated that Al Qaeda wanted to influence the upcoming presidential election.
Even if the new tape was not intended to trigger a specific attack by Al Qaeda operatives, the official noted, it could spark violence and terrorism anyway. "Having [Bin Laden] show up and lay a catalog of grievances at the feet of the American government is incitement."
The U.S. official said the CIA and other agencies had received nothing specific in recent days to suggest that plans for an attack were underway. And he said that Al Qaeda rarely, if ever, synchronizes its assaults with a particular event such as an election or symbolic date.
"They attack when they're ready and when they think they can get away with it," the official said. "So if the elections go off peacefully, no one is going to walk off the field and say it's over. Not at all."
A State Department official confirmed that the United States spent half a day trying to persuade Qatar-based Al Jazeera and the government in Doha to keep the tape off the air.
"We don't believe it's appropriate or desirable for any media outlet to provide a platform for terrorists to preach their message of hatred and violence," the State Department official said. "I think the Qatar government is trying to have it both ways. They've tried to accommodate us by not showing the whole thing but also tried not to cave in" to Al Qaeda by showing part of the tape rather than all of it.
Al Jazeera said it broadcast only "newsworthy and relevant" portions of the tape, which U.S. officials said was about 18 minutes long.
Bin Laden again acknowledged a central role in initiating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed about 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, saying he thought of the idea after the U.S. military involvement in Lebanon in 1982.
"As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way [and] to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women," he said, according to one translation.
By late Friday, the CIA and other U.S. agencies had thoroughly scoured the new tape for clues to where, how and when it was made as well as clues Bin Laden may have left in the content and delivery of his message.
On the tape, markings indicate that it was made by the Al Sahab for Media Production, which the U.S. official identified as Al Qaeda's media committee, responsible for some previous tapes. It also bears the date "10 Ramadan," or last Sunday, the official said.
The U.S. official and other authorities said Bin Laden looked healthy, if slightly thinner than in his last appearance. He spoke in a strong, unwavering voice, at times appearing almost defiant, jabbing his finger in the air on occasion for emphasis.
"He is saying, 'I am here. They haven't got me,' " said the official who is familiar with the tape, who requested anonymity.
Only last week, Vice President Dick Cheney commented on Bin Laden's low profile.
"We haven't seen much of him," Cheney said on Oct. 22. "You'll notice there haven't been any Bin Laden tapes running on the air where he's out broadcasting messages, frankly, because we think he's probably in a deep hole someplace, in hiding."
Bin Laden also criticizes Bush harshly, attacking his political leadership and his performance as commander in chief on Sept. 11, when the president remained in a Florida classroom and listened to the reading of a children's book after being told of the attacks.
"It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the American forces would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone at a time when they most needed him, because he thought listening to a child discussing her goat and its ramming was more important than the planes and their ramming of the skyscrapers," Bin Laden said.
"I am surprised by you," the Saudi-born militant said, addressing Americans. "Despite entering the fourth year after Sept. 11, Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you and therefore the reasons are still there to repeat what happened."
Bush, Bin Laden said, "resembles the regimes in our countries, half of which are ruled by the military and the other half by the sons of kings…. They have a lot of pride, arrogance, greed and thievery."
Bush was aboard Air Force One just before noon Friday when national security advisor Condoleezza Rice notified him of Bin Laden's comments, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters.
McClellan said there would be no immediate change in the nation's terrorist threat level, which remains at Code Orange, or high risk of attack, for Washington and the financial services sector in New York City and northern New Jersey. Orange is the second-highest level on the government's five-level warning scale. The rest of the nation is at Code Yellow, or elevated risk.
"We are on a heightened state of awareness already," McClellan said. He declined to answer questions about whether Bush believed that Bin Laden was trying to influence the election, saying, "I'll leave the political analysis to others." He added, "If there is actionable intelligence on it, we will act."
Authorities planned to analyze the tape through the weekend, cross-referencing it with other recent intelligence as well as with historical data on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. They were particularly interested in whether Bin Laden showed signs of shrapnel injuries he might have sustained during the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan in late 2001, and indications that he suffers from kidney disease, as many have suggested.
Meanwhile, senior U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials differed sharply in their initial interpretations of the tape. "This has raised the anxiety level through the roof," said one senior federal law enforcement official in Washington.
But a second senior official called the tape confusing. "Everybody is kind of scratching their head," the official said. "Clearly, he's trying to influence American voters. The question is, why?"
On March 11, suspected Al Qaeda followers blew up commuter trains in Madrid just before Spanish national elections, killing 191 and prompting voters to reject the incumbent party, which had sent troops to Iraq and had been expected to win. A month later, Bin Laden released a tape in which he offered other European governments a cease-fire of sorts if they withdrew their troops from Iraq and other Islamic nations.
* * *
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
`Your Security Is in Your Own Hands'
EXCERPTS FROM BIN LADEN TAPE
Unlike what Bush says, that we hate freedom, let him tell us why didn't we attack Sweden, for example…. As you undermine our security, we undermine yours.
-----
Despite entering the fourth year after Sept. 11, Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you….
The incidents that affected me directly go back to 1982 and afterward, when America allowed Israelis to invade Lebanon, with the help of the American 6th Fleet….
As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way [and] to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women.
-----
We did not find it difficult to deal with Bush and his administration, because it resembles the regimes in our countries, half of which are ruled by the military and the other half by the sons of kings…. They have a lot of pride, arrogance, greed and thievery.
This resemblance became clear in Bush the father's visits to the region…. He wound up being impressed by the royal and military regimes and envied them for staying decades in their positions and embezzling the nation's money with no supervision.
He passed on tyranny and oppression to his son, and they called it the Patriot Act, under the pretext of fighting terror. Bush the father did well in placing his sons as governors and did not forget to pass on the expertise in fraud from the leaders of the [Mideast] region to Florida to use it in critical moments.
-----
It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the American forces would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face these horrors alone … because he thought listening to a child discussing her goat and its ramming was more important than the planes and their ramming of the skyscrapers.
-----
Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands, and each state which does not harm our security will remain safe.
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