This is a discussion of Osama tapes that may implicate al-Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks

In late September 2001, British Prime Minister Tony Blair released information compiled by Western intelligence agencies connecting Osama bin Laden to the Afghan Taliban leadership and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organisation.

The Taliban refused to extradite Osama bin Laden or other al-Qaida leaders based in Afghanistan to the United States without conclusive evidence, although they proposed extradition to an Islamic country. (Previously, the Taliban had refused to extradite bin Laden without conclusive evidence that he was involved in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and the bombing of the USS Cole in a harbor in Yemen.) The Taliban leaders' refusal to comply with U.S. government demands gave the U.S. government a pretext for launching an invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001.

After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, an abandoned videotape was purportedly discovered in Kabul, the Afghan capital, showing bin Laden discussing the attacks and claiming foreknowledge of the attacks.

U.S. Investigators have nearly a decade of statements directly from bin Laden that state the motives for the attacks on the U.S. and U.S. allies. Bin Laden has been interviewed by western journalists and has for several years repeatedly broadcast a common list of grievances, which he cites as the reason for his declaration of war against the U.S. Most of these statements have been confirmed as bin Laden's but at least one letter written in Arabic, ostensibly bin Laden's "will", appeared on the Internet but has not been authenticated.

There have been many interviews with bin Laden, all of them listing specific foreign policies of the U.S. as the reasons for attacks on the U.S.

An audio tape reportedly from bin Laden stated in part:

"... the Mujahideen saw the black gang of thugs in the White House hiding the Truth, and their stupid and foolish leader, who is elected and supported by his people, denying reality and proclaiming that we (the Mujahideen) were striking them because we were jealous of them (the Americans), whereas the reality is that we are striking them because of their evil and injustice in the whole of the Islamic World, especially in Iraq and Palestine and their occupation of the Land of the Two Holy Sanctuaries. Upon seeing this, the Mujahideen decided teach them a lesson and to take the war to their heartland. On the blessed Tuesday 11 September 2001, while the Zionist-American Alliance was targeting our children and our people in the blessed land of Al-Aqsa, with American tanks and planes in the hands of the Jews, and our people in Iraq were suffering from the America's sanctions upon them, and the Islamic world was very far away from establishing Islam properly." -Osama bin Laden, February 14, 2003

In the paragraph before that he again recaps motives that he has claimed for years:

" ... in 1995, the explosion in Riyadh took place, killing four Americans, in a clear message from the people of that region displaying their rejection and opposition to the American policy of bankrolling the Jews and occupying the Land of the Two Holy Sanctuaries. The following year, another explosion in Al-Khobar killed 19 Americans and wounded more than 400 of them, prompting them to move their bases from the cities to the desert. Then in 1998, the Mujahideen warned America to cease their support to the Jews and to leave the Land of the Two Holy Sanctuaries, but the enemy refused to heed this warning, so the Mujahideen, with the ability from Allah, smashed them with two mighty smashes in East Africa. Then again America was warned, but she refused to pay attention to the warnings, so the Mujahideen destroyed the American Destroyer, the USS Cole, in Aden, in a martyrdom operation, striking a solid blow to the face of the American military and at the same time, exposing the Yemeni Government as American agents, similar to all the countries in the region." -Osama bin Laden February 14, 2003

For many years bin Laden stated motives. He said in an interview in 1999, "The International Islamic Front for Jihad against the U.S. and Israel has issued a crystal-clear fatwa calling on the Islamic nation to carry on jihad aimed at liberating holy sites. The nation of Muhammad has responded to this appeal. If the instigation for jihad against the Jews and the Americans in order to liberate Al-Aksa Mosque and the Holy Ka'aba Islamic shrines in the Middle East is considered a crime, then let history be a witness that I am a criminal."

"We swore that America wouldn't live in security until we live it truly in Palestine. This showed the reality of America, which puts Israel's interest above its own people's interest. America won't get out of this crisis until it gets out of the Arabian Peninsula, and until it stops its support of Israel." -Osama bin Laden, October 2001

A German friend of Mohammed Atta is quoted as describing him as "most imbued actually about Israeli politics in the region and about U.S. protection of these Israeli politics in the region. And he was to a degree personally suffering from that."

The FBI testified that al-Qaida had specific goals. "One of the primary goals of Sunni extremists is the removal of U.S. military forces from the Persian Gulf area, most notably Saudi Arabia."

The Bush Administration and others have stated that terrorists are motivated to attack by "hatred of America". President Bush said: "America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world." The purported statements of bin Laden in the disputed 2002 letter include depravity of Western civilization as a motive for attacks. The letter says that the motive for attacking is because they have been wronged. It starts with a quote talking about them being wronged: "Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given to those [believers] who are fought against, because they have been wronged and surely, Allah is able to give them (believers) victory" Qur'an 22:39 The letter also states, "Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple: (1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us." The letter goes on to points never raised in anything that has actually been verified as coming from Osama bin Laden. Terrorism expert Richard E. Rubenstein writes that Bin Laden has made clear in previous remarks that he is seeking to force a U.S. withdrawal from the Arabian peninsula.

The shoe bomber (Richard Reid) has said: "The reason for me sending you (a document he calls his "will") is so you can see that I didn't do this act out of ignorance nor did I just do it because I want to die, but rather because I see it as a duty upon me to help remove the oppressive American forces from the Muslim land and that this is the only way for us to do so as we do not have other means to fight them."

These statements suggest a motive for attacking the WTC in 2001 that is consistent with the motive expressed by terrorists in a letter sent to the New York Times after the 1993 bombing attack of the WTC, "We declare our responsibility for the explosion on the mentioned building. This action was done in response for the American political, economical, and military support to Israel the state of terrorism and to the rest of the dictator countries in the region." It is also the same motive that Mir Aimal Kasi had for killing CIA employees Frank Darling and Lansing Bennett outside CIA headquarters in Langley neighborhood of McLean, Virginia in 1993. Mir Aimal Kasi said, "What I did was a retaliation against the U.S. government for American policy in the Middle East and its support of Israel."

See also

• Osama bin Laden's Declaration of War
• Osama bin Laden Fatwa
• Text of 2004 Osama bin Laden videotape at Wikisource