President Bush says a new videotape of Osama Bin Laden is a reminder that the war on terrorism will go on. The president says America will not be intimidated by the al-Qaida leader.
The videotape was broadcast Wednesday, the eve of the second anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
In the video, Osama Bin Laden and his top deputy are seen walking side by side in rocky terrain. Their purported voices are heard on accompanying audiotapes.
U.S. intelligence officials say they can confirm that one of the voices is that of the deputy, but add they are not sure that the other is Osama Bin Laden.
President Bush was asked about the video by reporters after visiting wounded American soldiers at a Washington military hospital. He stressed the analysis of the images and voices is continuing, but went on to speak as if all the verification is at hand.
"His tape reminds us that the war on terror goes on. As well, his rhetoric is trying to intimidate and create fear and he is not going to intimidate America," he said.
Mr. Bush said the United States is at war because of actions taken by al-Qaida two years ago: the hijacking of four planes turned into missiles and crashed into two skyscrapers in New York, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. ". . . and we will stay at war until we have achieved our objective: the dismantlement of terrorist organizations," he said.
The president repeated his assertion that Iraq is now the main front in the war on terrorism. He said steady progress is being made there and elsewhere, with terrorist training camps closed, money drying up, and numerous suspects in custody.
"You can't negotiate with these people," he said. "You can't try to talk sense to these people. The only way to deal with them is find them and bring them to justice and that is what the United States and a lot of other countries working with the United States will continue to do."
The president noted that Secretary of State Colin Powell is heading to Geneva this weekend for talks on a new U.N. resolution on Iraq. He said the goal is to get a resolution that will encourage more countries to contribute troops and money for peacekeeping and civilian reconstruction efforts.
Mr. Bush refused to predict the outcome of the talks, saying only that he hopes other nations will participate and help secure a free Iraq.
