Bin Laden's tape was clearly a chilling call to arms directed at worldwide terror cells

WHEN an audiotape purporting to have been recorded by Osama bin Laden surfaced, via the al-Jazeera television network two weeks ago there were immediate questions about its authenticity.

It took three days for American experts to conclude that the voice speaking on the tape was, almost certainly, that of the al-Qa'ida leader's.

Last week's attacks on Israeli tourists in Kenya showed that the message of the tape was also chillingly genuine.

"You will be killed just as you kill, and will be bombed just as you bomb," bin Laden declared. "And expect more that will further distress you."

In what appeared at the time to be routine lip service to the cause with which millions of Arabs identify, he said recent terror attacks were a reaction to "what Israel, an American ally, is doing, bombing homes with elderly women and children inside, using American planes in Palestine".

Last Thursday's hotel bombing and attempt to bring down an airliner were proof that bin Laden's threat to Israel is now deadly serious.

That development has put western intelligence governments and intelligence agencies on guard as never before, for attacks against the string of countries listed by bin Laden as "allying themselves with America in attacking us in Afghanistan, especially to mention Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany and Australia".

Even if the Kenyan attacks were not exclusively al-Qa'ida's work but were carried out by another extreme Islamist group it is clear that last week's attack was in direct response to bin Laden's appeal, with more to follow.

The attack on Israeli tourists marks a crucial development in the battle against terrorism.

Western officials believe it was aimed at producing a double dividend for al-Qa'ida: Enhance bin Laden's standing among millions in the Arab world; and, by drawing Israel into retaliation, try to drive a wedge between America and its Arab allies.

Western security chiefs predict a fresh flow of money into al-Qa'ida's coffers, amid jubilation in some parts of the Arab world that the terrorist network was finally making good on bin Laden's anti-Israeli rhetoric.

Within hours of the attack, a crowd of 7,000 people at a Gaza rally to mark a Muslim anniversary cheered as a speaker referred to the victories of Islam during Ramadan and declared: "Today we struck again in Mombasa."

One Arab language internet website, Nafawith, which supports bin Laden, declared: "Allahu Akbar many times. This news makes us happy and tells us a lot of good things are coming."

Meanwhile, Meir Dagan, the chief of Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, was promising to use every available means to hunt down those responsible. A grim-faced Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, warned bluntly: "Our long arm will get the attackers."

One apprehensive Western government official, with an eye on the flow of Arab intelligence about al-Qa'ida and the need for Arab support against Iraq said: "This is a vicious war, but if the Israelis do something that is not proportionate then it will cause serious complications."

Israeli officials point to connections between bin Laden's network and Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group. US officials believe a Somali-based extremist group, Al-Itihad al-Islamiya, which has links with al-Qa'ida, may have been involved.

The question now is whether Israel will feel entitled to launch anti-terrorist operations against suspected al-Qa'ida targets inside Arab countries, a move which America and its allies fear could undermine co-operation from Arab governments.

The key may be Israel's need for intelligence on al-Qa'ida, which until now it has not pursued as actively as western intelligence services.

Mossad has long worked closely with the CIA, but is mistrusted by most European intelligence services and has a poor reputation for sharing good information with them.

For that reason, Mossad will need to learn to give as good as it gets - and to tread uncharacteristically carefully when considering action against al-Qa'ida beyond Israel's borders.

Western officials expect that Arab governments will continue to pass to them information about al-Qa'ida, although this may come with a request to withhold it from the Israelis.

Intelligence services might agree to abide by that restriction, unless there was a direct threat to Israel.

It is hoped that Israel would inform its Western allies in advance if it was planning an operation. "Even if they don't way exactly what they're going to do, we would have some opportunity to influence them," one Western diplomat said. However, Israel would find it impossible to sit tight if warned that an al-Qa'ida cell in a country such as Yemen or Sudan was preparing an attack against it.

Western officials say the terrorist network is struggling to find the easy funds with which it once bought support around the world.

"Don't underestimate the impact of the battle against al-Qa'ida's cash flow," said one official. "They are not finding it as easy as they did a year ago to access their funds and move their money around."

The fear is that by adopting the popular anti-Israeli cause, al-Qa'ida will find new sources of cash from wealthy Arabs who feel ambivalent about attacks on America - but have no such qualms about Israel. For western countries, the urgent task is to persuade Arabs otherwise. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Within hours of the attack, a crowd of 7,000 people at a Gaza rally to mark a Muslim anniversary cheered as a speaker referred to the victories of Islam during Ramadan and declared: "Today we struck again in Mombasa."

One Arab language internet website, Nafawith, which supports bin Laden, declared: "Allahu Akbar many times. This news makes us happy and tells us a lot of good things are coming."

Unleash Israel.

This article keeps talking vaguely about "western officials" and "western intelligence agencies." It notes that Mossad and the CIA often work closely together but that other western intelligence agencies "mistrust" Mossad. One might add the converse: that Mossad presumably mistrusts these other intelligence agencies--and with good reason, considering their fondness for Arabs.

I'm not sure where the Irish Independent stands, between America and Europe, but presumably somewhere in the middle.

As for the tape, although the voice may not be bin Ladin's, as this article assumes, I think the message comes from the leadership of al Qaeda. Personally, I'm not worried whether Mossad strikes back "disproportionately," whatever that means. (Maybe "proportion" would allow them to kill three terrorists in return for three innocent victims?) As far as I'm concerned, the more terrorists Mossad assassinates, the better.

I hate what happened, but to say that the recent attacks were "clearly" in response to the tape in absurd.

These attacks could have been done by any of a hundred groups, and were clearly planned well in advance. Given how frequent terrorist actions have been, to say that any action is prompted by a tape makes no sense.

The Irish Independent is very pro-European, but this is a reprint of a Daily Telegraph article.

I'm all for letting the Mossad take a bigger role in the international terror war. If it pisses off some Arab nations, it's because some Arab nations need pissing off.

When, oh when, will the U.S. armed forces declare Al-Jazeera a hostile combatant since it is effectively part of the command and control structure of Al-Qaeda??? What happened to "With Us or With the Terrorists"? I think we need to give them an ultimatum - broadcast any more AQ propaganda, i.e. terror orders/instructions and they will never broadcast again.

The "Osama" tape, which was greeted with a collective yawn by the general public, has already been discredited, no new 9/11 has occured, and Tom Ridge didn't even bother to up the level on the Threat-O-Meter after the tape was released, which shows you what the authorities really think about the tape. Bush understands that 9/11 was an Iraqi op -- the followup anthrax proves that beyond any doubt -- and that Saddam Hussein is now in a "getting away with it" mode, and a second 9/11 will not serve that end. Muslim scum will continue to perpetrate smaller scale atrocities against soft targets in the Third World because, well, they're Muslim scum, and that's what Muslim scum has always done. But al-Qaeda? Forget it. It's a myth.

I am humbled by the conciseness of the truth packed into your post. Wow. Can't wait to hear this on CNN/Fox after the war is over. Judy Woodruff will definitely smear her eyeliner/lipstick when this comes over the wires as "definitive"...

Time to start jamming Al-Jazeera's satellite uplink (or pressuring the satellite carriers that they use to not accept their terrorism promotion content.) And if those methods don't work, a well placed JDAM could take care of their uplink transmitter. :)

I'm all for letting the Mossad take a bigger role in the international terror war.

The Mossad and the Israelis will do what they need to do, and do it very effectively. But it's worth remembering that their goals in their war on terrorism are not the same as America's....their membership list of "axis of evil" nations (aside from Iraq) is different than ours, or at least it is at this time.

I love this stuff. You have to wonder what kind of "complications" he is worried about. Certainly not dead Israeli tourists, dead Africans killed at work, missiles fired at civilian airliners. Thats not a complication on Gilmore's planet. Dead terrorists, in Gilmore's world, now thats a complication.

I'm all for letting the Mossad take a bigger role in the international terror war. If it pisses off some Arab nations, it's because some Arab nations need pissing off.

I couldn't agree more. Every Imam, political leader, and media outlet in the middle east is currently preaching that the U.S. and Israel are working hand-in-hand and that both must be defeated and sent to hell. So a little cooperation with Israel could hardly make matters worse.

In fact, as long as the Arabs think they can get their way by scaring the US into holding back, and pressuring Israel to restrain its counterattacks, the more likely they are to tell their followers that the US and Israel are evil allies. If it works, they will keep doing it. A few lies never bothered them yet. So what do we have to lose by actually working together, which they accuse us of anyway?

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