"The videotape published in Washington after much deliberation shows a jubilant Osama bin Laden in conversation with a much younger Saudi sheik in a Kandahar guesthouse, crowing over the most ungodly act in the history of terrorism. The chilling effect of bin Laden’s contemptuously amused admission is only exceeded by his suggestion that the suicide bombers had no knowledge of the nature of their assignments ...
The most important aspect of the captured videotape is the impression
of authenticity it conveys. For the Americans, it is compelling evidence
of bin Laden’s guilt. But the star player also draws vindication from its
contents, evidence that he is capable of carrying out his threats to bring
America low and is a man of his word.
That was one of the arguments against releasing the tape. However,
on at least one point, DEBKAfile’s analysts are certain he was lying, using
religious fanaticism to justify his terrible deeds.
On January 8, 1988, a Manhattan court sentenced a Pakistani called
Ramzi Yousef to 240 years in isolation for the first attempt to destroy
New York’s World Trade Center eight years ago. In February 1993: he drove
a truck loaded with explosives into the underground parking level of one
of the World Trade Center towers and set off a small blast which killed
six people. The plan went awry, although the amount of explosives and the
positioning of the truck were calculated precisely to cause one tower to
buckle and hit the second, killing many thousands. Yousef went on to bare
the second half of the terror conspiracy against New York –
a plan to blow up the main bridges and tunnels leading into the city. Both
parts were calculated to bring about one quarter of a million deaths. The
convicted terrorist voiced regret at the failure of both plots, but never
named the senior terrorist behind them.
However intelligence subsequently collected, some of it in plea
bargain deals with al Qaeda members tried for the 1998 East African embassy
bombings, points squarely to Osama bin Laden as the mastermind - then as
now.
On the videotape he says (in reference to the September 11 attacks):
'We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four
floors. I was the most optimistic of them all.'
Bin Laden went to say: '…due to my experience in this field, I was thinking that the fire from the gas in the plane would melt the iron structure of the building and collapse the area where the plane hit and all the floors above it only.'
He added modestly, 'This is all we had hoped for.'
However, 1993 bin Laden plotted the murder of quarter of a million Americans. Why then would he be content – and even optimistic – about the death of a few hundred on the 'three or four floors' – particularly when he upgraded his weapon from an explosive truck placed under one tower to two large airliners - one for each of the two.
As a qualified engineer, he must have fully appreciated the destructive
force of his action.
His show of modesty can be explained by the pious requirement of
Islam not to brag, but rather to play down the believer’s 'achievements'
in order to assign full honor and glory for his surpassing 'success' to
his deity, rather than to himself.
This show of piety and humility sounds very much like Bin Laden playing
to the fundamentalist gallery. He meant to impress and inspire the faithful
to follow in his footsteps. In another part of the tape, it is claimed
that since September 11, the numbers of applicants for places at Muslim
study and prayer centers is up. His horrific deed was thus justified in
the eyes of his Saudi friend."