Clues Seen in Al Qaeda Tape

Aug. 5, 2005 — -- Intelligence officials are studying the most recent tape by al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, for hidden clues.

Sitting in front of a gently rippling cloth screen in bright sunlight, an AK-47 in the background, Zawahiri promised more attacks so bloody they "will make you forget the horrors of Vietnam." He added that Americans and Britons "will not be safe until you withdraw from our land, stop stealing our oil and stop supporting the corrupt rulers there."

Richard Clarke, a former White House counterterror chief who is now an ABC News consultant, said the setup of Zawahiri's latest video contains possible hidden messages.

'Propaganda Video'

For one thing, Zawahiri wore a black turban, rather than the white one worn in his prior videos since 9/11. To Sunni Muslims, Clarke said, a black turban means "somebody is making jihad," or holy war.

"This is a very carefully staged propaganda video, in which things like this are supposed to have meaning," Clarke told Diane Sawyer on ABC News' "Good Morning America." "He's trying to align himself, wherever he was, with the people fighting in Iraq."

The setting in the outdoors, with the sun shining and a breeze blowing, also may have been meant to send a message.

"What he's saying is 'I'm not stuck in a cave,' " Clarke said. "These people listen to what we say about them. When we say that they are powerless, they are stuck in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan, they want to have a way to come back and say no they're not. So here he is, outside in the light of day, dressed for war … when, in fact, he probably is stuck in a cave."

On the tape, Zawahiri blamed the recent London subway bombings on England's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and promised more dead until Western troops withdraw.

"[British Prime Minister Tony] Blair has brought you destruction in central London," Zawahiri said. "You spilled rivers of blood in our countries, so we exploded the volcanoes of anger in yours."

Bush Defiant

The British government would not comment, but in Crawford, Texas, President Bush was defiant.

"We will stay the course," Bush said. "We will complete the job in Iraq."

Bush argued the tape proves the war in Iraq is part of the war on terror.

"The Iraqis want to live in a free society," he said. "Zawahiri doesn't want them to live in a free society. And that's the clash of ideologies -- freedom versus tyranny. … People like Zawahiri have an ideology that is dark, dim, backwards."

Clarke took a critical view of Bush's response.

"I think attention is exactly what these people crave," Clarke said. "I think a better strategy would be for the president to say 'I don't respond to the mutterings of low criminals.'"

But although the al Qaeda members may be seeking attention with the tapes, Clarke doesn't fault the media for airing them.

"It's important for people to know what's going on," Clarke said. "There is no question they would reach their principal audience of jihadists around the world anyway. And there's no reason these people shouldn't be exposed for the lunatics they are to reasonable people. … These horrible ideas definitely need to be exposed to the light of day, because they cannot survive sunlight."

Changes from Earlier Tapes

Thursday's video was first played on the Arabic satellite channel al Jazeera, as has been the case with many of al Qaeda's communications. It was the seventh communication from Zawahiri since 9/11. Four have been videotapes, including a joint address with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Three have been audiotapes.

Some have noted Zawahiri's beard appeared grayer in the latest video.

"We don't have any clear evidence that he is ill," Clarke said. "But we have to remember that he is one of the most wanted men in the world, and there is little doubt that he's feeling the strain.

"But it's also worthwhile to remember that he's a doctor, who perhaps has served as bin Laden's personal doctor," Clarke added. "Zawahiri knows better than most fugitives how to take care of his body."

Zawahiri also appeared more physically animated than in prior videos, often stabbing the air with his finger as he talked about more bombings in London, New York and Washington.

"He's always been a firebrand in his rhetoric," Clarke said. "Bin Laden likes to put on airs that he's a statesman and theorist, an ambassador of al Qaeda. In contrast, Zawahiri is always talking death and destruction. It would be rather frightening to think about his becoming even more bellicose, although we do not think at this point that he has much operational capacity. We think he and bin Laden's main role right now is more propaganda than actual operations."

ABC News' Jake Tapper contributed to this report.