What to make of bin Laden’s tape?

Fawaz Gerges is one of our senior analysts and is the Christian Johnson Chair in Middle East and International Affairs at Sarah Lawrence College blogs: In an audio tape released on a website, a voice claiming to be Osama bin Laden claims Zacarias Moussaoui had nothing to do with the 9/ll attacks and, in fact, was not even aware they were to take place. Three points are worth highlighting about bin Laden’s new audio tape. First, bin Laden asserts his preeminent leadership of Al Qaeda. He wants the world to know that he, and he alone, "was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers … with the raids." He is reminding friend and foe that he was and is the king. Second, bin Laden tries to discredit the American legal case against Moussaoui and score a propaganda coup. He is saying "this is America for all to see, sentencing an innocent man for a crime he had not committed." "Where is American justice?" Bin Laden is fully engaged in the struggle for hearts and minds. The Moussaoui case offered him a valuable opportunity to strike back at America. Third, the importance of the audio tape lies in bin Laden telling the world for the first time ever that "I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers … with the raids." This acknowledgment is a double-edged sword that could be used against him, not just in his favor. Now the international community, including the Muslim community, knows beyond any doubt that it was bin Laden who assigned the suicide hijackers to their targets and gave them the go-ahead. Gerges is the author of the recently-published book “Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy."