New Osama bin Laden Tape Released Before Obama's Egypt Trip

In advance of Obama's scheduled visit to Egypt, a new tape of Osama bin Laden has been released. Is this to get attention away from the President and to Al Qaeda or indication the terrorist group is still being directed by bin Laden?

After the bold move by Al Qaeda in releasing a new tape said to contain a message from Osama bin Laden, there is speculation about the motivation in doing so. Furthermore, according to ABC news this morning, some people wonder if the voice is authentic and if this is the proof that Pakistan said needed to be available to indicate bin Laden is still alive. Right now much is hypothesis about this but nevertheless disconcerting to those monitoring extremism in the Middle East, according to reports. Al Qaeda is reported to threaten both the United States and Pakistan on the tape and to denounce Obama, that the President is following the same policy as his predecessor, George Bush. Octavia Nasr said on television Wednesday morning that she has heard bin Laden's voice many times, and she believes the tape is authentic. This comes after the January 2009 audio tape in January when Osama bin Laden encouraged Muslims to begin a jihad against Israel following the Gaza offensive. At the time, the Al Qaeda leader maintained that new fronts would be opened up against the United States and its allies. It also criticized Arab leaders as well for what the terrorist leader said was collusion with the United States and Israel.urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel, seeking to harness anger over the Gaza offensive with a new message posted on the Internet on Wednesday. The tape was posted on an Islamic militant web site. Osama bin Laden has been sending out tapes regularly since the bombing of the World Trade Towers. In December of 2001 one of his early tapes delightedly recounted his involvement and knowledge of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Towers and declared the attacks "benefited Islam greatly." Bin Laden has continued to release tapes like this for more than ten years, which are now his main source of communication with the rest of the world. It's interesting to note that he released a tape when Bush made a trip to the Middle East last year and now releases one the day before Obama is scheduled to make a speech in Cairo, Egypt. Still the tapes no longer get quite the same attention, according to FBI agent Grad Garrett who told ABC News in 2008 in relationship to the tape released at that time.

“It seems just more of the same,” Garrett said. “He has an opinion, sure, but nothing he says surprises anyone anymore.”

Perhaps, indeed, this is more of the same.