Osama bin Laden Transcript 

from 9/6/2007

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate. This material includes Qu'ranic verses and sayings by the Prophet. It is impermissible to air it accompanied with music. With the regards of Al-Sahab Media Production; Sha'ban 1428.

Praise be to God, Who set up the Heavens and the Earth in justice, and created man as a favor and grace from Him. It is from His ways that the days rotate between people and from His law is retaliation in kind; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and the killer is killed. And all praise is due to God, Who awakened His slaves' desire for Heaven, and all of them will enter it except those who refuse (by disobeying God), and whoever obeys him in all his affairs will enter Heaven and whoever disobeys Him will have refused. As for what follows: Peace be upon he who follows the guidance.

American people:  I would like to talk to you about a number of important issues that concern you, so lend me your ears. I will begin by speaking about the war between you and us and some of its repercussions on you and us.

I begin by saying: America has the largest economic power and the strongest and most modern arsenal. It spends on this war and its army more than the entire world does on it armies. It is the superpower that influences the world policies, as though the unjust veto were its exclusive right. Despite all of this, 19 young men managed with God's help to cause it to deviate from its course. Talk about the mujahidin has become an integral part of your leader's speeches. The effects and signs of this are obvious.

Since the 11th many of America's policies have come under the influence of the mujahidin, and that is by the grace of God, the Most High. As a result, the people discovered the truth about it, so its reputation worsened, its prestige was broken globally, and it was exhausted economically.  Yet, our interests might overlap with the interests of the major corporations and also with those of the Neoconservatives, despite the differing intention. During the first years of the war, your news media lost their credibility and manifested themselves as a tool of the colonialist empires. Their condition has often been worse than the condition of the media of the dictatorial regimes which march in the caravan of the single leader.

Bush is talking about his cooperation with al-Maliki and his government to promote democracy in Iraq, but he in fact is working with the leaders of one sect against another in the belief that this will quickly settle the war in his favor. Thus, the so-called civil war came into being and matters worsened at his hands before getting out of control. He became like the one who plows the sea and harvests nothing but failure.

So, these are some results of the freedom about whose spreading he is talking to you. Bush's retracting from his insistence on not giving the United Nations expanded powers in Iraq is an implicit confession of his loss and defeat there.

Among the most important things in Bush's speeches since the events of the 11th is that the Americans have no option but to continue the war. These statements are a repetition of the statements by the neoconservatives, like Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Richard Pearle, who had said that the Americans have option but to continue the war or face a Holocaust.

To refute this unfair statement, I say that the morality and culture of the Holocaust is your culture, not ours. In fact, torching the living beings is forbidden in our religion, even if they are as small as ants, let alone men. The Holocaust of the Jews was carried out by your brothers in central Europe. Had it taken place closer to our countries, the majority of the Jews would have been saved by taking refuge with us. My proof to this is what your brothers the Spaniards did when they set up the inquisitions against the Muslims and the Jews. The Jews could not find a safe shelter except by taking refuge in our countries. As a result, the Jewish community in Morocco is today one of the largest communities in the world. They are alive, amongst us, and we have not burned them. We are a people who do not sleep under oppression and reject humiliation and disgrace, and we take revenge on the people of tyranny and aggression. The blood of Muslims will not be spilled with impunity and tomorrow is nigh for he who waits.

Furthermore, your Christian brothers have been living amongst us for 14 centuries. In Egypt alone, there are millions of Christians whom we have not burned and will not burn. Yet, there is a tendentious campaign that has been waged against us for a long time now by your politicians and many of your writers through your media, especially in Hollywood, with the aim of distorting Islam and its people to drive you away from the true religion. Annihilating and burning people alive took place at your hands. Only a few specimens of Red Indians were spared, and in the past few days, the Japanese observed the 62d anniversary of the annihilation of Nagasaki and Hiroshima by your nuclear bombs.

Among the things that catch the eye of the one who considers the repercussion of your unjust war against Iraq is the failure of your democratic system, despite it raising the slogans of justice, liberty, equality, and humanitarianism. It has not failed to achieve these things only; it has actually destroyed these and other concepts with its weapons, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan in such a flagrant manner. This was replaced with fear, destruction, killing, hunger, disease, displacement, and more than a million orphans in Baghdad, as well as hundreds of thousands of widows. The US statistics speak of the killing of more than 650,000 of the people of Iraq as a result of the war and its repercussions.

American people:  The world is following your news with regard to your invasion of Iraq. Several years after the tragedies of the war, people have recently come to know that the vast majority of you want it stopped. This is why you elected the Democratic Party for this purpose. However, the Democrats have not done anything worth mentioning. In fact, they are still approving the spending of tens of billions to continue the killing and war there. This has disappointed the majority among you. And here lies the gist of the matter. One should pause, think, and reflect: Why have the Democrats failed to stop this war, although they are the majority? I will come back to this question after raising another question, which is: Why are the leaders of the White House keen on igniting and fighting wars in the world and why do they seize every opportunity to achieve this purpose, and sometimes create justifications based on blatant deception and lies, as you have seen in Iraq?

In the Vietnam War, the leaders of the White House then claimed that it was an important and necessary war, during which Rumsfeld and his aides killed two million villagers. Then, when Kennedy came to power and deviated from the general policy line drawn up for the White House and wanted to stop that unjust war, this angered the owners of big corporations who benefit from its continuation. Kennedy was killed. Al-Qa'ida did not exist then. Those corporations were the main beneficiary from his killing. The war continued afterwards for almost a decade. After you found out that it was an unjust and unnecessary war, one of your big mistakes was that you did not hold those who waged the war accountable and did not punish them, especially the most violent murderer, Rumsfeld.

What is even stranger than this is that Bush chose him to be secretary of defense in his first term, having chosen Cheney as vice president, Powell as secretary of state, and Armitage as Powell's deputy despite their horrific, bloody past in murdering human beings. This was a clear indication that this administration--the administration of generals--is not chiefly concerned about serving humans, but seeks to commit other massacres. Yet, you allowed Bush to continue his first term. What is stranger than this is that you elected him for a second term. This is an explicit mandate from you to him, with knowledge and consent, to continue to kill our people in Iraq and Afghanistan. After that, you claim that you are innocent. This innocence of yours is like my innocence of the blood of your sons on the 11th were I to claim such innocence. However, I would never match many of you in terms of arrogance and disregard for the life of humans outside America or match your leaders in terms of lying. The whole world knows that they have the lion's share of all of this. These are not our ethics.

I want to stress here that not holding the former war criminals accountable made them repeat this crime by killing humanity without right. They waged this unjust war in the land of the two rivers (Iraq). The oppressed today are continuing to exact their right from you. This war was entirely unnecessary. This is testified to by your reports. Among the most capable of speaking to you about this topic and about shaping public opinion from your own people is Noam Chomsky, who spoke sober words of advice prior to the war. However, the leader of Texas does not like people who give advice. The whole world came out in unprecedented demonstrations, warning against launching the war and describing its truth in eloquent terms like "no to spilling red blood for black oil." But he did not heed them. It is time for humanity to know that the talk about human rights and freedom is lies exported from the White House and its allies in Europe to deceive humans and take control of their resources and subjugate them.

To answer the question about the reasons for the failure of the Democrats to stop the war, I say: They are the same reasons for the failure of former President Kennedy to stop the Vietnam War. The people who wield real power and influence are those who have a large capital. As long as the democratic system allows big corporations to support candidates, whether they are running for the presidency or for Congress, there should be no cause for wonder--and there is none--at the failure of the Democrats to stop the war. You have the proverb that says: You pay, you talk.

I tell you that after the failure of your representatives in the Democratic Party to fulfill your wish to stop the war, the option that you are left with is to carry banners against the war and to go out to the streets of major cities and then return home, but this will be of no use. This means that the war will be a long one. However, there are two solutions to stop it. The first is from ours side, which is to continue to escalate the killing and fighting against you, and this is our duty. Our brothers are doing this, and I pray to God to make them stand fast and to grant them victory. The second solution is from your side. It has become clear to you and the whole world that the democratic system is a failure and that it is tampering with the interests and blood of peoples, whereby soldiers and peoples are sacrificed for the interests of major corporations. Thus, it has become clear to everybody that they are the true terrorists and unjust ones.

In fact, the life of all mankind is in danger because of the global warning, which is largely due to emissions of the factories of the major companies; nonetheless, the representatives of those companies in the White House insist on not observing the Kyoto Accord, notwithstanding the fact that statistics speaks of the death and displacement of millions of people as a result, especially in Africa. The greatest of plagues and the most dangerous of threats to the lives of humans is taking place in an accelerating fashion as the world is being dominated by the democratic system, which confirms its utter failure to protect humans and their interests from the greed and avarice of the major companies and their representatives.

Despite this brazen attack on the people, the leaders of the West -- especially Bush, Blair, Sarkozy and Brown -- still talk about freedom and human rights with a flagrant disregard for the intelligence of human beings. So, is there a form of terrorism stronger, clearer, and more dangerous than this? This is why I tell you: As you liberated yourselves before from the slavery of monks, kings, and feudalism, you should liberate yourselves today from the deception, shackles, and attrition of the capitalist system.

If you ponder it well, you will find that in the end it is a system harsher and fiercer than your systems in the Middle Ages. The capitalist system seeks to turn the entire world into a fiefdom for the major companies under the label of globalization in order to protect democracy.

Iraq and Afghanistan and their tragedies, and the suffering of many of you under the burden of the interest-related debts, insane taxes, and real estate mortgages; global warming and its woes; and the abject poverty and tragic hunger in Africa are all but one side of the grim face of this global system.
So, it is imperative that you free yourselves from all of that and search for an alternative and upright methodology in which no segment of people is allowed to lay down its laws to its own advantage at the expense of the other segments as is the case with you. The essence of man-made positive laws is that they serve the interests of those with the capital and thus make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The infallible methodology is that of God, the most high who created the heavens and earth and created the creation and is the most king and all-informed and the knower of the souls of His slaves and the methodology that best suits them.

You believe with absolute certainty that you believe in God, and you are full of conviction of this belief to the extent that you have written this belief of yours on your dollar. But the truth is that you are mistaken in this belief of yours. The impartial judge knows that belief in God requires straightness in the following of His methodology and accordingly total obedience must be to the orders and prohibitions of Gold alone in all aspects of life.

So, how about you when you associate others with Him in your beliefs, separate state from religion, and then claim that you are believers? What you have done is clear loss and manifest polytheism. I will give you a parable of polytheism, as parables summarize and clarify speech.

I tell you: The parable is that of a man who owns a shop and hires a worker and tells him: Sell and give me the money; but he makes sales and give the money to someone other than the owner. So who of you would approve of that?

You believe that God is your lord and your creator and the creator of this earth and that it is His property, then you work on His earth and property without His orders and without obeying Him, and you legislate in contradiction to His law and methodology.

The work of yours is the greatest form of polytheism and is rebellion against obedience to God with which the believer becomes an unbeliever, even if he obeys God in some of His other orders. God, the most high, sent down his orders in His holy books like the Torah the Evangel and sent with them the messengers, may God' s prayers and peace be upon them, as bearers of good news to the people. So, everyone who believes in them and complies with them is a believer from the people of the Garden. Then, when the men of knowledge altered the words of God, the most high, and sold them for a paltry price, as the rabbis did with the Torah and the monks with the Evangel, God sent down His final book, the magnificent Qu'ran, and safeguarded it from being added to or subtracted from by the hands of men, and in it is a complete methodology for the lives of all people.

Our holding firm to this magnificent book is the secret of our strength and winning of the war against you despite the fewness of our numbers and material. If you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your loss of your war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer in this regard.

Do not be turned away from Islam by the terrible situation of the Muslims today, for our rulers in general abandoned Islam many decades ago, but our forefathers were the leaders and pioneers of the world for many centuries when they held firmly to Islam.

Before concluding, I tell you: There has been an increase in the thinkers who study events and happenings. On the basis of their study, they have declared the approach of the collapse of the American empire. Among them is the European thinker who anticipated the fall of the Soviet Union, which indeed fell. It would benefit you to read what was written about what comes after the empire in regard to the United States.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the main reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union is that it was stricken by their leader Brezhnev, who was vain and arrogant, refusing to recognize facts. Since the first year of the invasion of Afghanistan, reports indicated that the Russians are losing the war, but he refused to admit it so that defeat would not be on his personal record. However, not admitting defeat does not change anything of the truth as far as only sensible people are concerned. Instead, it exacerbates the problem and increases the losses. Today, you show a striking resemblance to their situation almost two decades ago. Bush has committed Brezhnev's mistakes by saying when asked about the time for pulling out his forces from Iraq that the withdrawal will not happen during his rule but during the time of his predecessor.

The implications in these words are obvious. In this regard, I say that it is useful for you to listen to the moving messages by your soldiers in Iraq, who pay with their blood, nerves, and body parts a price for such irresponsible statements like Joshua's eloquent message which he voiced in the media, wiping tears from his eyes and using harsh names to label US politicians. He called on them to accompany him there for just a few days so that his message might meet an attentive ear in order to save him and more than 150,000 of your sons there who are suffering greatly. If they leave their barracks, then mines would get them. If they refuse to leave their barracks, then they would receive court orders. This leaves them with no choice but to commit suicide or cry. Both choices are among the worst tribulations. Is there anything left for men to do other than crying and killing themselves to have you listen to them? They cry or kill themselves due to the intense fear, humiliation, and terror they are suffering from. It is even worse than what slaves used to suffer from in your country centuries ago. It is as if some of them have moved from one type of slavery to another that is much more intense and harmful, even though it might be in the form of attire adorned with financial benefits from the Pentagon. Can you feel their great suffering?

In conclusion, I call on you to embrace Islam. The biggest mistake a man can make in life which cannot be corrected is to die without surrendering all of his life affairs to God Almighty. This is Islam. It is a dividend for you in life and the hereafter, because religion is a mercy to people in life which fills their hearts with serenity and comfort. Consider the example the mujahidin set; The entire world is after them, yet their hearts, thanks to God, are satisfied and clam. Moreover, religion regulates people's life through its laws and preserves their needs and interests, sharpens their manners, protects them from evils, and ensures them a place in heaven in the hereafter for their obedience and faithfully worshiping God and no one but God.

Embracing Islam would also make your wish to stop the war come true, because the minute warlords and owners of big companies learn that you have lost confidence in your democratic system and started looking for an alternative; namely, Islam, they will rush after you to satisfy you and make your wishes come true in order to distract you from Islam. Your true adherence to Islam will pass the chance on them to deceive peoples by taking their wealth under many slogans like arms deals and others. There are no taxes in Islam, rather, limited alms estimated at only 2.5 percent.

So, watch out from the ploys of capitalists. Through your serious reading about Islam from its authentic sources, you shall come to realize an important fact which is that all prophets, may God's peace be upon them, have one religion based on surrendering to the orders of God and only God with respect to all life's affairs-- even if their laws differs. Do you know that the name of God' Prophet Jesus and his mother, may God's peace be upon them, was mentioned in the Holy Koran scores of times, and that there is a Surah in the Holy Qu'ran called Maryam, in a reference to Maryam, the daughter of Umran and the mother of Jesus, God's peace be upon him. The Surah tells the story of conceiving God's Prophet Isa, may God's peace be upon them. It also includes proof of her chastity and purity, contrary to the lies of the Jews about her. Whoever wanted to know the truth of this matter should listen to the verses of this great Surah.

A fair Christian king; namely, Al-Najashi, heard some of the verses of this Surah and cried. At that moment, he said something which those who are sincerely in pursuit of justice should ponder deeply. He said that this and what was revealed unto Isa stems from the same lantern. This means that the great Koran and the Bible are both revealed by God Almighty. The fair and sensible amongst you, who contemplate the Qu'ran, shall definitely conclude this truth while noting that God preserved the Koran against humans' distortions. Reading to get to know Islam requires little effort. Those amongst you who are guided to the right path shall win much.

Peace be upon those who follow Guidance.