Bush leaning toward videotape release

Marking the moment President Bush has asked countries across the world to hold remembrance events and to play their national anthems or appropriate music at 8:46 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday — three months to the moment after the first airplane struck the World Trade Center. Among the events: • Mr. Bush will lead the worldwide initiative with the playing of the national anthem at a White House event. • The Pentagon will hold a remembrance ceremony at the exact moment of the Pentagon attack. • In New York, electronic billboards at Times Square will flash patriotic messages. • NASA will hold a special event in space on the International Space Station. • Secretary of State Colin Powell will mark the event in London with Prime Minister Tony Blair. • In Tennessee, the carillons at Bicentennial Mall in downtown Nashville will play a patriotic music medley. • In South Carolina, the governor has asked all schools to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the moment of the attacks.

WASHINGTON — President Bush is leaning toward release of a videotape in which Osama bin Laden discusses his knowledge of plans for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, administration officials said.

Aides said that Mr. Bush has not made a final decision about the tape, in which Mr. bin Laden reportedly says that he estimated in advance how many of "the enemy" were likely to be killed.

"For those who see this tape, they'll realize that not only is he guilty of incredible murder, he has no conscience and no soul — that he represents the worst of civilization," Mr. Bush told reporters.

Discovered in an abandoned building in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the tape records Mr. bin Laden saying that he did not expect both towers of the World Trade Center to collapse, said officials who have seen an English translation. The leader of al-Qaeda network also says that some of the 19 hijackers who took over four airplanes on that day of terror did not know they were on suicide missions.

Mr. bin Laden says on the tape that he calculated casualty estimates before the attack that left more than 3,000 dead, two intelligence officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

He also describes how he excitedly listened to early news reports about the World Trade Center attacks and told associates there was more to come, officials said. After the twin towers attack, another hijacked airliner rammed into the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.

Officials believe the tape was recorded in November.

"It just reminded me of what a murderer he is and how right and just our cause is," Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Bush is inclined to make the tape public but has asked national security aides to make sure the release won't help Mr. bin Laden's confederates track down the source, officials said.

Protecting people

If Mr. Bush decides to release the tape, aides said, it probably won't be available before Wednesday.

Tuesday — which marks three months since the terrorist attacks — has been set aside for a pair of special events featuring Mr. Bush.

The first is a memorial service at the White House set for 7:46 a.m. Dallas time, when the first airplane struck the World Trade Center. Mr. Bush has asked other nations to hold ceremonies at the same time, and at least 70 other countries are expected to participate.

Later in the day, Mr. Bush is scheduled to fly to Charleston, S.C., for a speech at The Citadel military academy, site of a 1999 Bush campaign speech on "the future of our military."

With the military searching for Mr. bin Laden in the caves of Afghanistan, some officials said the tape should bolster the case against the al-Qaeda leader and temper the criticism by some Muslims of the U.S.-led military action.

The tape is of very poor quality and might inspire claims by bin Laden supporters that it has been doctored by the United States, some officials said. But they said that most people would accept that both the tape and the sentiments expressed on it are authentic.

"I don't really know of any people left in the world who question whether or not Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda were responsible for this," Mr. Fleischer said.

Officials at the White House, at the Pentagon, and on Capitol Hill have seen the tape and been given translations of the Arabic.

"The body language that I saw really was disgusting," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said. "I mean, that people would take delight in having killed innocent civilians is horrible."

Vice President Dick Cheney said the tape proves that Mr. bin Laden had "significant knowledge" of the planning for the attacks.

"It shows him being interviewed or meeting with another individual, apparently a cleric, talking about the events of September 11th," he said Sunday on NBC's Meet The Press.

Until now, the administration has taken a dim view of Mr. bin Laden's appearing on television. Shortly after the Bush administration authorized military action in Afghanistan, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice asked television networks not to broadcast videotapes featuring Mr. bin Laden.

'Spontaneous'

"This is a more spontaneous conversation, by all appearances," Mr. Fleischer said, noting that Mr. bin Laden in previous videos appeared in military garb with a rifle at his side.

Although officials are concerned about al-Qaeda followers tracking down the source of this tape, they are less concerned about Mr. bin Laden himself — and are not even sure he knows of news reports that the United States has the video.

"I'm not sure how good the reception is in his caves these days," Mr. Fleischer said.

Sen. Bob Graham, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it is "important that the world see this tape."

There are "still some places where there is suspicion about whether there is evidence to link bin Laden to the events of September 11th," Mr. Graham, D-Fla., said on CBS' The Early Show.