Osama sends message to Obama

A new audio tape has surfaced on an Islamist website in which al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden sends a message to the US President Barack Obama and the American people. In the ten minute recording the voice, which is purported to be that of America's most wanted terrorist, says the US president is "powerless" to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The authenticity of the audio recording could not be independently verified. 

The message was released by As-Sahab, Al-Qaeda's media wing, and distributed to several Jihadist websites which regularly carry propaganda for the terrorist organization. Part of the taped message condemns the United States support of Israel. "We have already shown, and we have stated many times in more than two decades since the start of our disagreement with you, which is caused by your support for the Israelis who are occupying our land of Palestine, and which led us to carry out the events on September 11, 2001," the voice says. "The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," the voice in the tape says.

In several parts of the tape, the al-Qaeda leader refers to recent events. He refers to Obama's speech in Cairo, which took place on June 4, and about former President Jimmy Carter's visit to Gaza in June. Bin Laden also condemned the Israeli invasion of Gaza, earlier this year, saying that American bombs were used by Israel during the conflict.

The terror leader said the United States should work towards Iraq's release instead of "fighting for its liberation." If not, President Obama could suffer "the same fate as former President Kennedy and his brother," bin Laden said. Both President Kennedy and his brother Robert were assassinated. The al-Qaeda number one also criticized Obama's decision to keep Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, saying the Bush-era leadership at the Pentagon had remained in place. Obama's promise to cooperate with the Republicans was in reality a "cover" and a "big trick" to let Gates remain on his current post, Osama claimed. "You have only changed the faces in the White House," Osama bin Laden said.

The message which comes just two days after the US marked the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America, carries much f the same rhetoric seen in previous recordings. "We carry our weapons, fighting evil from East to West," Bin Laden said, and insisted that "Patience is our weapon." and that al-Qaeda would "Never compromise." In his last known message, in June, he said that U.S. President Barack Obama had planted the seeds of "revenge and hatred" towards the US in the Muslim world.Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding in the mountainous terrain on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.