OSAMA BIN LADEN DECLARES A HOLY WAR AGAINST THE "CRUSADER STATES OF AMERICA"

Bin Laden became a sworn enemy of the United States in 1991, the year of the Persian Gulf War.

The "American crusader forces" were "occupying" his homeland.

From the perspective of bin Laden and other pious Muslims, the intrusion of the "crusader forces" was a semblance to the days of the Christian led crusades of almost a thousand years before, during which the Catholic Church unsuccessfully sought to evict the Muslims from the Holy lands.

It was thirteen hundred years ago, in the seventh century A.D., that the religion known as Islam arose in the Arabian peninsula. With astonishing rapidity, it quickly spread across and conquered the Middle East, Byzantium, Persia, northern Africa, and Spain.

Islam was spread by the sword.

The armies of the Christian Byzantine Empire were annihilated in 636, and Jerusalem fell in 638.

Three hundred years later, in the year 1095, the Catholic Pope Urban II proclaimed that war for the sake of God was holy. He called upon the nobility and their armies to go to forth and assist their Christian brothers, the Byzantines. and kill the Muslims in the name of God--a cause that could be justified by scripture:

"Behold I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way. Beware of him and obey his voice, for I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries, and I will cut them off..... I will send my terror before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come..... and I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased and inherit the land." -Exodus 23:20-30

However, it was not the pious that Urban desired to fight his wars, but lovers of murder and mayhem. He required killers to do a killer's job. He was interested in recruiting for his holy cause only those who were murderers, rapists, molesters of children and anyone who enjoyed the prolonged torture of their victims.

"You oppressors of orphans, you robbers of widows, you homicides, you blasphemers, you plunderers of others' rights... If you want to take counsel for your souls you must go forward boldly as knights of Christ..." so proclaimed the Pope who then offered "indulgences" and heavenly forgiveness to all those who would commit blasphemies and murder women and children in the name of the Lord God and Jesus Christ. He had just launched the first crusade.

An important factor that played a role in helping to persuade the nobles and their armies to participate in such a gruesome task that was so terribly far from home, were the offers of an "indulgence."

An "indulgence" was literally a license to sin, to do harm and it was a guarantee that all sins would be forgiven by god, no matter how odious.

In consequence, the crusaders not only attacked and massacred the Muslims, successfully retaking Jerusalem on July 15, 1099, but they massacred their fellow Christians who had the misfortune and bad luck of living in villages that fell along the way--a pattern that was repeated in subsequent Crusades over the centuries.

For example, in the 13th century, an army of some thirty thousand Christian knights and Crusaders descended into southern France and attacked the town of Beziers in search of heretics. Over thirteen thousand Christians flocked to the churches for protection.

When the Bishop, one of the Pope's representatives, was informed that the army was unable to distinguish between true believers and heretics, he replied, "Kill them all. God will recognize his own."

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The Muslims viewed the Christians as "polytheists," and idolaters, and set out to cleanse the holy lands of these blasphemers.

The Islamic Holy Wars and Counter-Crusades began.

"In the Name of God... by the Troops shall the unbelievers be driven towards Hell, until when they reach it, its gates shall be opened... for just is the sentence of punishment on the unbelievers...." -Koran, XXXIX

Saladin was the greatest of Muslim generals and in 1187 he annihilated the entire army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Horns of Hattin, near the Sea of Galilee. Jerusalem had again come under Islamic rule.

Now after nearly a thousand, the "crusader forces" had returned and whereas the Medieval Catholic Church had been driven back and had failed to defeat the Muslim peoples, the United States had succeeded greatly. They had invaded the holiest of all Muslim lands, the land of Mecca, the holy land of Saudi Arabia--which was an intolerable affront to 1,400 years of Islamic tradition. It was an afront to Allah, to god.

Over a thousand years ago, after driving out the polytheists and those who worshipped multiple gods and those who profaned the lands of Arabia, the prophet Muhammad had declared that hencefore there shall "not be two religions in Arabia."

Muhammad's words were law--he was the messenger of God. The presence of foreign troops, with their many gods, was blasphemous. It was a sin. It was a crime against god.

The American led, Western "crusader forces," of course, saw their presence in a whole different light. They were not the invaders. They were in Saudi Arabia to protect it from Saddam Hussein's armies and to liberate Kuwait.

From the perspective of the Americans, they were not an occupying force but remained stationed in Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War, in order to protect the kingdom from Saddam Hussein.

It was not just entirely on religious grounds that bin Laden and other Arabs were incensed. They also believed the presence of the "Crusader Forces" were corrupting the morals of the people and causing the kingdom of Saudi Arabia incredible economic and financial harm.

"The crusader forces became the main cause of our disastrous condition," he wrote in his 1996 declaration of jihad: Holy War.

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In August of 1996, bin Laden formally declared war on the United States. The declaration of war and its justification was detailed in a document entitled, "Ladenese Epistle: Declaration of War."

He published this document in a London-based newspaper, Al Quds Al Arabi, which he had often used to communicate his views.

It read, in part, as follows:

DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST THE AMERICANS OCCUPYING THE LAND OF THE TWO HOLY PLACES: EXPEL THE INFIDELS FROM THE ARAB PENINSULA

A MESSAGE FROM USAMA BIN MUHAMMAD BIN IN LADEN

Praise be to Allah, we seek His help and ask for his pardon. we take refuge in Allah from our wrongs and bad deeds. Who ever has been guided by Allah will not be misled, and who ever has been misled, he will never be guided. I bear witness that there is no God except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.

It should not be hidden from you that the people of Islam had suffered from aggression, iniquity and injustice imposed on them by the Zionist-Crusaders alliance and their collaborators; to the extent that the Muslims blood became the cheapest and their wealth as loot in the hands of the enemies. Their blood was spilled in Palestine and Iraq. The horrifying pictures of the massacre of Qana, in Lebanon are still fresh in our memory. Massacres in Tajakestan, Burma, Cashmere, Assam, Philippine, Fatani, Ogadin, Somalia, Erithria, Chechnia and in Bosnia-Herzegovina took place, massacres that send shivers in the body and shake the conscience. All of this and the world watch and hear, and not only didn't respond to these atrocities, but also with a clear conspiracy between the USA and its' allies and under the cover of the iniquitous United Nations, the dispossessed people were even prevented from obtaining arms to defend themselves.

The people of Islam awakened and understood that they were the main targets for the aggression of the Zionist-Crusaders alliance. All false claims and propaganda about "Human Rights" were hammered down and exposed by the massacres that took place against the Muslims in every part of the world.

The latest and the greatest of these aggressions, incurred by the Muslims since the death of the Prophet (ALLAH'S BLESSING AND SALUTATIONS ON HIM) is the occupation of the land of the two Holy Places -the foundation of the house of Islam, the place of the revelation, the source of the message and the place of the noble Ka'ba, the Qiblah of all Muslims- by the armies of the American Crusaders and their allies. (We bemoan this and can only say: "No power and power acquiring except through Allah").

The explosion at Riyadh and Al-Khobar is a warning of this volcanic eruption, which was emerging as a result of the severe oppression, suffering, excessive iniquity, humiliation and poverty.

People are fully concerned about their every day livings; everyone talks about the deterioration of the economy, inflation, increasing debts and jails full of prisoners. Government employees with limited income talk about debts of hundreds of thousands of Saudi Riyals. They complain that the value of the Riyal is greatly and steadily deteriorating among most of the main currencies. Great merchants and contractors speak about hundreds and thousands of million Riyals owed to them by the government. More than three hundred forty billions of Riyal owed by the government to the people in addition to the daily accumulated interest, let alone the foreign debt. People wonder and question whether we are the largest oil exporting country?! They even believe this situation is a curse put on them by Allah for not objecting to the oppressive and illegitimate behavior and measures of the ruling regime: Ignoring the divine Shari'ah law; depriving people of their legitimate rights; allowing the American to occupy the land of the two Holy Places; unjust imprisonment of the sincere scholars. The honorable Ulamah and scholars as well as merchants, economists and eminent people of the country were all alerted by this disastrous situation.

The inability of the regime to protect the country and allowing the enemy of the Ummah - the American crusader forces- to occupy the land for the longest of years. The crusader forces became the main cause of our disastrous condition, particularly in the economical aspect of it, due to the unjustified heavy spending on these forces. As a result of the policy imposed on the country, especially in the oil industry, where production is restricted or expanded and prices are fixed to suit the American economy and ignore the economy of the country. Expensive deals were imposed on the country to purchase arms. People questioning the justification of the existence of the regime.

Traitors implement the policy of the enemy in order to bleed the financial and the human resources of the Ummah, and leave the main enemy in the area-the American Zionist alliance enjoy peace and security! This is the policy of the American-Israeli alliance as they are the first to benefit from this situation.

But with the grace of Allah, the majority of the nation, both civilians and military individuals are aware of the wicked plan. They refused to be played against each other and to be used by the regime as a tool to carry out the policy of the American-Israeli alliance through their agent in our country: the Saudi regime.

If there are more than one duty to be carried out, then the most important one should receive priority. Clearly after Belief (Imaan) there is no more important duty than pushing the American enemy out of the holy land.

Ibn Taymiyyah , after mentioning the Moguls (Tatar) and their behavior in changing the law of Allah, stated that: the ultimate aim of pleasing Allah, raising His word, instituting His religion and obeying His messenger (ALLAH'S BLESSING AND SALUTATIONS ON HIM) is to fight the enemy, in every aspects and in a complete manner; if the danger to the religion from not fighting is greater than that of fighting, then it is a duty to fight them even if the intention of some of the fighter is not pure i.e. fighting for the sake of leadership (personal gain) or if they do not observe some of the rules and commandments of Islam. To repel the greater of the two dangers on the expense of the lesser one is an Islamic principle, which should be observed. It was the tradition of the people of the Sunnah (Ahlul-Sunnah) to join and invade- fight- with the righteous and non-righteous men. Allah may support this religion by righteous and non-righteous people as told by the prophet (ALLAH'S BLESSING AND SALUTATIONS ON HIM). If it is not possible to fight except with the help of non-righteous military personnel and commanders, then there are two possibilities: either fighting will be ignored and the others, who are the great danger to this life and religion, will take control; or to fight with the help of non righteous rulers and therefore repelling the greatest of the two dangers and implementing most, though not all, of the Islamic laws...."

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In February of 1998, bin Laden published a second declaration of war: Ladenese Epistle.

OSAMA BIN LADEN DECLARES WAR (JIHAD) AGAINST JEWS & THE CRUSADERS

"Praise be to God, who revealed the Book, controls the clouds, defeats factionalism, and says in His Book: "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)"; and peace be upon our Prophet, Muhammad Bin-'Abdallah, who said: I have been sent with the sword between my hands to ensure that no one but God is worshipped, God who put my livelihood under the shadow of my spear and who inflicts humiliation and scorn on those who disobey my orders.

The Arabian Peninsula has never -- since God made it flat, created its desert, and encircled it with seas -- been stormed by any forces like the crusader armies spreading in it like locusts, eating its riches and wiping out its plantations. All this is happening at a time in which nations are attacking Muslims like people fighting over a plate of food. In the light of the grave situation and the lack of support, we and you are obliged to discuss current events, and we should all agree on how to settle the matter. No one argues today about three facts that are known to everyone; we will list them, in order to remind everyone:

First, for over seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors, and turning its bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples.

If some people have in the past argued about the fact of the occupation, all the people of the Peninsula have now acknowledged it. The best proof of this is the Americans' continuing aggression against the Iraqi people using the Peninsula as a staging post, even though all its rulers are against their territories being used to that end, but they are helpless.

Despite the great devastation inflicted on the Iraqi people by the crusader-Zionist alliance, and despite the huge number of those killed, which has exceeded 1 million... despite all this, the Americans are once against trying to repeat the horrific massacres, as though they are not content with the protracted blockade imposed after the ferocious war or the fragmentation and devastation.

So here they come to annihilate what is left of this people and to humiliate their Muslim neighbors.

If the Americans' aims behind these wars are religious and economic, the aim is also to serve the Jews' petty state and divert attention from its occupation of Jerusalem and murder of Muslims there. The best proof of this is their eagerness to destroy Iraq, the strongest neighboring Arab state, and their endeavor to fragment all the states of the region such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan into paper statelets and through their disunion and weakness to guarantee Israel's survival and the continuation of the brutal crusade occupation of the Peninsula.

All these crimes and sins committed by the Americans are a clear declaration of war on God, his messenger and Muslims. And ulema have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries. This was revealed by Imam Bin-Qadamah in "Al- Mughni," Imam al-Kisa'i in "Al-Bada'i," al-Qurtubi in his interpretation, and the shaykh of al-Islam in his books, where he said: "As for the fighting to repulse [an enemy], it is aimed at defending sanctity and religion, and it is a duty as agreed [by the ulema]. Nothing is more sacred than belief except repulsing an enemy who is attacking religion and life."

On that basis, and in compliance with God's order, we issue the following fatwa to all Muslims:

The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque [Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, "and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together," and "fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God."

This is in addition to the words of Almighty God: "And why should ye not fight in the cause of God and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)? -- women and children, whose cry is: 'Our Lord, rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will help!'"

We -- with God's help -- call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it. We also call on Muslim ulema, leaders, youths and soldiers to launch the raid on Satan's U.S. troops and the devil's supporters allying with them, and to displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson.

Almighty God said: "O ye who believe, give your response to God and His Apostle, when He calleth you to that which will give you life. And know that God cometh between a man and his heart, and that it is He to whom ye shall all be gathered."

Almighty God also says: "O ye who believe, what is the matter with you, that when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of God, ye cling so heavily to the earth! Do ye prefer the life of this world to the hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the hereafter. Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but Him ye would not harm in the least. For God hath power over all things."

Almighty God also says: 'So lose no heart, nor fall into despair. For ye must gain mastery if ye are true in faith.'"

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A few months after Osama bin Laden declared holy war on America, he was asked by an Arab journalist why had there been no immediate attacks to back up the threats?

"If we wanted to carry out small operations, it would have been easy to do," bin Laden replied. "The nature of the battle requires good preparation."

In the 1920s, Adolf Hitler, while languishing in the Landsburg prison fortress outside Munich, wrote an epistle: "My Struggle."

Hitler explained in detail his grievances, the wrongs committed against Germany and the German people, how he would come to power, the tactics he would employ to gain power and what he would accomplish once power had been seized.

Hitler intended to make Germany the greatest military power the world had ever seen, he would drive out the Jews and then he would declare war on Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

He said what he would do, over and over again, in speeches, in newspaper articles, and in his book, Mein Kampf--and then he did it--much to the shock and surprise of French, British, American and Russian diplomats, presidents, prime ministers, dictators and kings.

Hitler later admitted he should never have published Mein Kampf; that he should have kept his plans secret.

Like Adolf Hitler, bin Laden has detailed his grievances, the wrongs he believes have been committed against the Muslim people, as well as his goals and the tactics he will utilize in achieving those goals.

He has said what he will do and he is acting on his threats--trying to make his nightmare vision a reality.

To Americans, his vision is truly nightmarish. But to the vast majority of Arabs, his views have enormous appeal. He offers not only hope and salvation but also vengeance and retribution.

During the 1700s, and the war for independence, the Americans waged successful guerilla campaigns in order to combat Britain's superior numbers and arms.

The Jews also employed guerrilla warfare, when they drove the British out of the Holy lands, during the 1940s.

Guerrilla warfare was also the preferred tactic of Fidel Castro in driving the American-backed Batista government from power in Cuba.

Again, the Viet Cong employed guerrilla warfare to drive the American invaders from Viet Nam.

Guerrilla warfare works. Terror is effective.

Terror and guerrilla warfare can even defeat a super power.

Bin laden also embraces terror and guerrilla warfare as the most effective tool in fighting a more powerful enemy. When Hitler came to power, he spent the next five years planning and preparing for war.

Bin Laden has also recognized the need for lengthy preparation.

Lengthy preparation and meticulous planning are his calling card--with many of his operations being in the planning and preparation stages for four or more years; and then he strikes.

In 1998, bin Laden announced his intentions to the world and the United States and called for the killing of "Americans and their allies, civilians and military . . . in any country in which it is possible to do it."

In 1998, U.S. targets were hit: the U.S. embassies in East Africa and the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen.

Years of planning went into the 1998 bomb attacks--just as bin Laden promised.

"The nature of the battle requires good preparation." In 1998, he also promised that "the battle will inevitably move . . . to American soil."

In June of 2001, Osama bin Laden boasted that a horrific attack would soon take place in the United States.

On September 11, 2001, he made good on his terrorist threat. He murdered 5,000 Americans.

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The U.S. State Department believes that bin Laden's hydra-headed terrorist organization, al-Qa'eda, has over 3000 agents in over two dozen countries, including the United States.

Bin Laden has the resources and the international connections to successfully carry out an attack against American interests on almost any region of the globe.

Although headquartered in the remote mountains of Afghanistan, al-Qa'eda and bin Laden have agents in Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Canada, Chechnya, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Yemen and most importantly the United States.

Bin Laden's terrorist organization, al-Qaíeda, has established paramilitary terror cells across the globe. It is one of the few non-governmental organizations with the reach, capability and funds to execute missions of mass murder and mayhem such as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America.

Bin Laden not only has the resources and the international connections, but he and his organization have been implicated in numerous well planned military and terrorist attacks on United States interests.

Although bin Laden did not formally declare war until 1996, his organization has been conducting terrorist attacks since 1991.

"The nature of the battle requires good preparation."

Good preparation, however, does not guarantee success.

In January 1995 members of al-Qaíeda planned to plant bombs on 11 U.S. jetliners. The plan was for the bombs to go off as these jets were flying over the Pacific. Fortunately the plot was discovered and foiled.

In 1998 he organized his first successful attack on American targets: The U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. Some 224 people died in the bombings of these two U.S. embassies.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, has been indicted by a U.S. District Court in New York for his alleged role in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. According to U.S, intelligence sources, he trained in Afghanistan with bin Laden.

American intelligence reported other attacks had been planned for the U.S. embassies in Uganda and Albania.

The Clinton administration retaliated against this brazen act of mass murder and the assaults on the U.S. embassies, by launching a series of Tomahawk cruise missiles to destroy bin Laden's camp in Afghanistan.

This attempt at retaliation was ineffective and financially taxing. A number of tents were destroyed and about 20 men, mostly Pakistani militants, were killed at a cost of 1 million dollars a missile. Bin Laden escaped.

The Clinton administration was also humiliated after destroying a milk formula factory in Sudan. Claims by his administration that the milk factory was producing biological weapons, were soon proved false. This was a propaganda coup for bin Laden and his allies, as they portrayed the missile attack on Sudan as an act of unjustifiable terror.

Two years later, bin laden and al-Qaíeda attempted to strike again. During the U.S. millennium celebrations, bin Laden's group planned to launch multiple terrorist strikes over multiple days. These plans however, were foiled when Ahmed Ressam, a native of Algeria, was caught when he entered the United States from Canada.

Ahmed Ressam was later convicted of attempting to plant explosives in key sites in the Los Angeles area. He later admitted he had been acting on orders received from bin Laden's organization.

Undaunted, Bin Laden's forces made yet another attack on October 2000. A small boat filled with explosives rammed the USS Cole as it was entering the harbor in Yemen.

Dozens of sailors were badly burned and injured. Seventeen were killed.

Soon after committing this dastardly deed, bin Laden filmed himself reciting a victory poem about the bombing of the Cole. He also issued a call to arms:

"To all the Mujah: Your brothers in Palestine are waiting for you; it's time to penetrate America and Israel and hit them where it hurts the most."

Osama bin Laden had issued his warning: He was preparing to strike hard at the hearts and minds of America.