“As for Osama himself, he was not in the Afghan camp when the U.S. missiles struck, killing some two dozen trainees… The next day [August 21, 1998], Ayman al-Zawahiri, his right-hand man and leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad…used his satellite phone to call a Pakistani reporter with a defiant message: Osama had survived. ‘Tell the Americans we aren’t afraid of bombardments, threats and acts of aggression. We suffered and survived the Soviet bombings for ten years in Afghanistan and we are ready for more sacrifices,’ he added. ‘The war has only just begun. The Americans should now await the answer.’ ”
– Jonathan Randal, Osama, Page 144