"Asked what message he would send
President Clinton, bin Laden answered: 'Mentioning the name of
Clinton or that of the American government provokes disgust and
revulsion. This is because the name of the American government
and the name of Clinton and Bush directly reflect in our minds
... the picture of the children who died in Iraq.' He was referring
to the fact that, by May 1996, an estimated 500,000 Iraqi children
had died as a result of U.N. sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990,
for its continued violations of U.N. resolutions.
"He continued: 'The hearts of Muslims
are filled with hatred towards the United States of America and
the American president. The president has a heart that knows
no words. A heart that kills hundreds of children definitely
knows no words. Our people on the Arabian Peninsula will send
him messages with no words because he does not know any words.
If there is a message that I may send through you, then it is
a message I address to the mothers of American troops who came
here with their military uniforms walking proudly up and down
our land.... I say that this represents a blatant provocation
to over one billion Muslims. To these mothers I say if they are
concerned for their sons, then let them object to the American
government's policy.'"
From a March 20, 1997 interview with Osama
bin Laden, recorded on page 22 of Peter L. Bergen's Holy War,
Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden (2001).
CNN aired this interview on May 9, 1997, but, oddly, has apparently
removed the transcript from its web site (see "Related Stories"
at this
link). Fortunately, the complete transcript can be retrieved
by using the Wayback
Machine.
At the end of the interview, Osama bin
Laden is asked, "What are your future plans?" He answered,
"You'll see them and hear about them in the media, God willing."
On August 6, 1998 (the eighth anniversary
of President George H.W. Bush's launching of Operation Desert
Shield against Iraq), al Qaeda bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa.
That was followed by the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000
and, of course, 9/11. Bin Laden's "messages with no words"
had been delivered to Bill Clinton.
Note that Osama bin Laden
in 1997 stated that he would send Clinton "messages with
no words" to avenge the deaths of Iraqi children as a result
of sanctions and because of American troops on the Arabian Peninsula.
The main reason sanctions were on Iraq during the entire Clinton
administration is because UN Resolution 687 required Iraq to
destroy its WMD. The numbers of U.S. troops on the Arabian Peninsula
were dramatically increased during the Clinton administration
to enforce sanctions on Iraq. Osama bin Laden mentioned both
of these conditions in his 1996
declaration of war
against the U.S.
