Osama bin Laden has released a new tape in which he cites U.S. support for Israel as the reason for the attack of 9/11, saying, “the cause of our disagreement with you is your support to your Israeli allies who occupy our land of Palestine.” Bin Laden also said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not necessary for U.S. national security. The tape contains no new threats against the United States and analysts believe Bin Laden’s motivation for releasing the tape may be to counter President Barack Obama’s popularity in the Muslim world, which undercuts Bin Laden’s jihadist agenda.

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Bin Laden Calls Obama ‘Powerless’

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Bin Laden appeals to Americans (MSNBC, Sept. 14, 2009) — In a new audiotape, Osama bin Laden calls on Americans to resolve the conflict with al-Qaida by ending the war in Afghanistan. NBC’s Bob Windrem reports. (02:19)

September 14, 2009

CAIRO — Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden described President Barack Obama as “powerless” to stop the war in Afghanistan, and Americans’ inability to grasp why the Sept. 11 attacks occurred has “cost you a lot without any result whatsoever.”

The remarks by the terrorist leader were released two days after the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that he ordered. Bin Laden typically addresses the American people in a message timed around the Sept. 11 anniversary. …

When Barack Obama became president and retained many of the Bush administration’s military leaders, such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, “reasonable people knew that Obama is a powerless man who will not be able to end the war as he promised,” bin Laden said. …

Grievances

The al-Qaida leader sought to drive home key grievances often voiced in the Arab and Muslim world, where Washington’s policies are seen as blatantly favoring Israel at the expense of the rights of Palestinians and other Arabs.

“We have demonstrated and stated many times, for more than two-and-a-half-decades, that the cause of our disagreement with you is your support to your Israeli allies who occupy our land of Palestine,” bin Laden said.

“The delay in your knowing those causes has cost you a lot without any result whatsoever,” he said in the tape released by al-Qaida’s media wing, as-Sahab.

“This position of yours, combined with some other injustices, pushed us to undertake the events of (Sept. 11),” bin Laden said. He said that if Americans realized the extent of the “suffering from the injustice of the Jews … you will realize that both our nations are victims of the policies of the White House,” which he described as “a hostage” to interest groups and companies.

Dozens of releases

IntelCenter, another company that monitors terrorist propaganda, said the 11-minute video, which shows a still picture of bin Laden while audio of the address plays, is the 49th release from as-Sahab in 2009. As-Sahab is averaging one release every five days so far in 2009, IntelCenter said.

The terror leader, who is believed to be hiding in the remote mountainous region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, argued against the claims that the wars spearheaded by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan are necessary for U.S. security.

Along with the direct threats, bin Laden also follows an approach he has embraced repeatedly, reaching out to Americans in a gesture of conciliation — or at least readiness to entertain one if the United States moves to re-evaluate its support for Israel.

“Ask yourselves to determine your position: is your security, your blood, your children, your money, your jobs, your homes, your economy, and your reputation dearer to you than the security of the Israelis, their children and their economy?” he said.

“If you choose your security and cessation of war, and this is what the polls have shown, this requires you to work to punish those on your side who play with our security. We are ready to respond to this choice on aforementioned sound and just bases.”

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Related reports

Osama bin Laden’s fatwa, or declaration of war, first published in Al Quds Al Arabi, a London-based newspaper, in August 1996. The fatwa is titled “Declaration of War Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places.” (Acknowledgment: PBS Online NewsHour)

Domestic Attacks on Obama

The whispers among some of his allies: that those who loathe Obama are driven in part by racism. Demonstrators are shown during a rally at Freedom Plaza in Washington on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. (Photo credit: Reuters)

The elephant in the room

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — September 14, 2008

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Military official: U.S. is ‘not winning the war’ in Afghanistan (NBC Nightly News, Sept. 10, 2008) — Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Bush administration, told Congress Wednesday that America is “running out of time” in Afghanistan. NBC’s Brian Williams reports. (00:38)

After the Primary Election: Day 5

One year ago today, on the fifth day after losing my 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, in line with my focus on national security, I reported on the assassination of a provincial governor in Afghanistan, U.S. casualties in Afghanistan, and ongoing violence in Iraq.

People inspect damage after a car bombing the previous day in Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008. (Photo credit: Hameed Rasheed / AP)