CAIRO - The new video message from Osama bin Laden blasting capitalism and the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan appeared on militant Islamist websites Saturday, a day after it was released by a U.S.-based terrorist monitoring organization.
A note accompanying the video explained it had been a conscious decision to release the video to television channels before posting it on websites, the traditional means al Qaeda has used to disseminate its message.
"As a requested strategy, the video has been sent to TV channels before posting it to the net,'' the note said.
"And it is not true, (as) ... some websites claimed, that they have received it in another way,'' it added, apparently referring to the Washington-based SITE Institute, which monitors messages from radical groups and provided the tape to The Associated Press on Friday.
In the video, bin Laden makes no overt threats and does not directly call for attacks. Instead, he addresses Americans, telling them the Iraq war has failed and urges them to turn away from capitalism and convert to Islam.
His emergence Friday comes at a time when intelligence experts believe bin Laden's network is regrouping in the lawless Pakistan-Afghanistan border region -- and it underlines the U.S. failure to catch him.
In the video, bin Laden attacked capitalism, multinational corporations and globalization.
"This is why I tell you: as you liberated yourselves before from the slavery of monks, kings and feudalism, you should liberate yourselves from the deception, shackles and attrition of the capitalist system,'' he said.
Among other things, he chastises American voters for claiming to be "innocent'' while at the same time re-electing U.S. President George W. Bush "to continue to murder our people in Iraq and Afghanistan.''
He also derides American democracy, noting voters elected a Democratic majority in Congress in order to end the war.
"But the Democrats haven't made a move worth mentioning,'' he said. "On the contrary, they continue to agree to the spending of tens of billions to continue the killing and war there. . . .''
Several current and former government officials said they believed an American -- 28-year-old Adam Gadahn -- may have written at least part of the speech.
Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and supporting terrorism for serving as an al Qaeda propagandist, has appeared in several past al Qaeda-produced videos, lecturing against capitalism and globalization and making insider references to American culture.
"It has Adam Gadahn written all over it,'' one former senior intelligence official said of bin Laden's tape, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
In the new video, bin Laden derided Bush, saying events in Iraq had got "out of control'' and the American leader "is like the one who plows and sows the sea: He harvests nothing but failure.''
In a rare move, Bush responded to the bin Laden video, calling it "a reminder about the dangerous world in which we live.''
"It's important that we show resolve and determination to protect ourselves, deny al Qaeda safe haven and support young democracies,'' Bush told reporters on the sidelines of a summit of Pacific Rim countries in Sydney, Australia.
Bin Laden said there were two solutions to stopping the Iraq war:
"One is from our side, and it is to escalate the fighting and killing against you. This is our duty, and our brothers are carrying it out.
"The second solution is from your side. ... I invite you to embrace Islam,'' he said.
One result of that, bin Laden said, would be an end to the Iraq conflict.
"Warmongering owners of the major corporations'' would rush to appease voters who showed they are looking for an alternative in Islam, he said.
Bin Laden wears a white robe, a white circular cap and a beige cloak seated behind a table while reading an address to the American people from papers in front of him.
His trimmed beard is shorter than in his last video, in 2004, and is fully black -- apparently dyed, since in past videos it was mostly grey.
He speaks softly, as he usually does, and has dark bags under his eyes, but his appearance dispelled rumours that he had died.
Al Qaeda annually uses the anniversary of the Sept. 11 suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as a propaganda opportunity, issuing videotapes to rally supporters and mock the United States.
But the appearance of bin Laden this year makes a bigger splash. The al Qaeda leader had not appeared in new video footage since October 2004, and he had not put out an audiotape in more than a year, his longest period without a message.
The video appeared to have been recently made. At one point, bin Laden mentions that "several days ago'' Japan marked the 62nd anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. He also refers to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was elected in May.
