” ‘I say if the American government is serious about avoiding the explosions inside the U.S.,’ said bin Laden [in his ‘Declaration of War Against America‘ on August 23, 1996], ‘then let it stop provoking the feelings of 1,250 million Muslims. Those hundreds of thousands who have been killed or displaced in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, do have brothers and relatives. They would make of [World Trade Center bomber] Ramzi Yousef a symbol and a teacher. The U.S. will drive them to transfer the battle into the United States. Everything is made possible to protect the blood of the American citizen while the bloodshed of Muslims is allowed in every place. With this kind of behavior, the U.S. government is hurting itself, hurting Muslims and hurting the American people.’ ”
– James Bamford, A Pretext for War, Pages 165-166