The Bush administration dismisses the latest videotape from Osama bin Laden as more terrorist propaganda. Excerpts of the tape aired Wednesday on the Qatar-based Arabic television station al-Jazeera.
White House Spokesman Scott McClellan says the tape is nothing new. He told reporters covering the president's visit to the Bush family ranch that it is the same kind of terrorist propaganda heard before from Osama bin Laden.
The tape raises new questions about the whereabouts of the al-Qaida leader. Osama bin Laden's own words indicate the tape could have been made several weeks ago, perhaps before the start of an intense assault on al-Qaida positions in the Tora Bora region of eastern Afghanistan.
In the brief excerpts aired Wednesday, Osama bin Laden accuses the West of loathing Islam. Al-Jazeera is expected to broadcast the entire videotape on Thursday. The White House has asked U.S. television networks in the past not to air videotapes from Osama bin Laden in their entirety, and to take a close look at the tapes before putting them on the air.