[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ds-1col clearfix\u0022\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \u003Cp\u003EFor years, videotapes and audio recordings released by Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have been gold mines of information about al-Qaeda for Western media outlets. As the manhunt for Bin Laden unfolded after the September 11 attacks, al-Qaeda\u2019s tapes served to update the media on the status of key leaders, the group\u2019s reaction to certain events, and plans for future operations.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn June 2002, the \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E reported on an al-Qaeda audio tape, broadcast by Al Jazeera, which claimed responsibility for a synagogue bombing in Tunisia and \u201cdismissed reports that Mr. bin Laden and his main lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had been killed or wounded during the American-led assault on the Tora Bora area of Afghanistan.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003ENeil MacFarquhar, \u201cQaeda Says Bin Laden Is Well, and It Was Behind Tunis Blast,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, June 23, 2002, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/06\/23\/us\/qaeda-says-bin-laden-is-well-and-it-was-behind-tunis-blast.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/06\/23\/us\/qaeda-says-bin-laden-is-well-and-it-was-behind-tunis-blast.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn March 2004, Al Jazeera broadcast an audio recording of al-Zawahiri just days after Pakistan thought it was closing in on his location along the Afghanistan border. The \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u003C\/em\u003E noted that, while the voice had not been authenticated as al-Zawahiri\u2019s, \u201cIts appearance yesterday suggested a deliberate taunting of the Pakistani government and military over their failure to capture him.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EJames Astill and Brian Whitaker, \u201cZawahiri Tape Taunts Pakistanis,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u003C\/em\u003E (London), March 25, 2004, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2004\/mar\/26\/pakistan.alqaida\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2004\/mar\/26\/pakistan.alqaida\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother video from al-Zawahiri in February 2005 criticized the U.S. for trying to spread democracy, warning that it \u201cwill end with your defeat, the killing of your sons and the destruction of your economy.\u201d Trying to determine when al-Zawahiri recorded the message, CNN reported on his comment that it had been about three years the U.S. began detaining prisoners in the war on terrorism at Guantanamo Bay. According to CNN, \u201cIt could not be determine when or where the Ayman al-Zawahiri tape was recorded, but\u2026The United States did move Taliban detainees early in 2002 from Afghanistan to [Guantanamo Bay], where there have been allegations that some of them were tortured.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E\u201cNew al-Zawahiri Tape Lashes U.S. Policy,\u201d CNN, February 21, 2005, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2005\/WORLD\/meast\/02\/20\/zawahiri\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2005\/WORLD\/meast\/02\/20\/zawahiri\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn April 2008, another audio message from al-Zawahiri suggested to media outlets that al-Qaeda may have been changing its tactics and public relations strategy. According to the \u003Cem\u003EChristian Science Monitor\u003C\/em\u003E, the fact that al-Zawahiri answered critical questions from users on al-Qaeda internet forums \u201csuggested that dissent among its supporters may be forcing Al Qaeda to change tactics\u2026\u201d Another signal that the group was changing tactics was al-Zawahiri\u2019s denials about targeting innocent civilians. When a web user asked him who was killing innocent people in \u201cBaghdad, Morocco, and Algeria,\u201d al-Zawahiri responded that, \u201cIf there is any innocent who was killed in the Mujahideen\u2019s operations, then it was either an unintentional error or out of necessity.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EArthur Bright, \u201cNew Zawahiri Tape Suggests Al Qaeda PR Shift,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EChristian Science Monitor\u003C\/em\u003E, April 4, 2008, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/World\/terrorism-security\/2008\/0404\/p99s01-duts.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/World\/terrorism-security\/2008\/0404\/p99s01-duts.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn August 2011, months after Osama Bin Laden was killed, a video message from al-Zawahiri telling his followers to, \u201cHunt [America] down wherever you may encounter her,\u201d prompted ABC News to wonder if the tape was intended as a 9\/11 message.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003ERym Momtaz and Brian Ross, \u201c9\/11 Message? New Al Qaeda Leader Calls for US Attacks,\u201d ABC News, August 15, 2011, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Blotter\/911-message-al-qaeda-leader-calls-us-attacks\/story?id=14308081\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Blotter\/911-message-al-qaeda-leader-calls-us-attacks\/story?id=14308081\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFinally, CNN described an April 2014 video released by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as \u201cunsettling\u201d after it showed deputy emir Nasir al-Wuhayshi being greeted by followers. The report warned that the U.S. has \u201cgood reason to worry,\u201d because as Peter Bergen noted, \u201cThe main problem about this group is that it has a bomb maker who can put bombs on to planes that can\u2019t be detected.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EBarbara Starr, \u201cUnsettling Video Shows Large Al Qaeda Meeting in Yemen,\u201d CNN, April 16, 2014, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2014\/04\/15\/world\/al-qaeda-meeting-video\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2014\/04\/15\/world\/al-qaeda-meeting-video\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n","dialogOptions":{"minWidth":850,"resizable":true,"modal":true,"title":"The Western Media and al-Qaeda\u2019s Messages"}},{"command":"doFootnotes"}]