"Why is it acceptable for us to live with fear, murder, destruction, displacement, the orphaning of children and the widowing of women, but peace, security and happiness should be for you?" the voice asks. "This is not fair. Now is the time to become equals. Just like you kill us, we will kill you."
Experts who have listened to hours of bin Laden tapes said the voice on the latest tape sounds like that of the al Qaeda leader. It is not known when the tape was recorded, but it refers to events as recent as October.
An audiotaped statement attributed to Osama bin Laden praises recent terror attacks in Yemen, Kuwait, Bali and Moscow as a response "to how the Muslims have been treated."
The voice refers to President Bush as "the pharaoh of the century" and blames him for "killing our children in Iraq." The speaker also charges that Israel is attacking the homes of elderly women and children using American helicopters.
"Bush, the pharaoh of the century, is killing our children in Iraq," says the voice attributed to bin Laden. "And Israel, an American ally, is bombing homes with elderly women and children inside using American planes in Palestine. This is enough for the wise of your leaders to stay away from this band of terror."
The tape also refers to ancient military campaigns, comparing Secretary of State Colin Powell and Vice President Dick Cheney to Holako, a Tatar who invaded Baghdad in the 13th century. It exhorts other countries not to cooperate with the United States.
"And here's Cheney and Powell, killing and destroying many in Baghdad, more than ... Holako, the king of the Tatars," says the voice. "So why are your governments allying themselves with America in attacking us in Afghanistan, especially to mention Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany and Australia?"
Earlier this month, al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the October 12 bombing of a Bali nightclub that killed more than 180 people. The tape singles out Australia, which lost more of its citizens in the Bali attack than any other nation.
"Australia is the one that we have warned before not to participate in Afghanistan. Not to mention its continued awful chapter in East Timor," the tape says. "They ignored our warning, and they woke up to the sound of explosions in Bali, but the government pretended that they were not the target."
An earlier written statement purportedly from bin Laden in October praised the killings of a U.S. Marine during a training exercise in Kuwait and the bombing of a French tanker off the coast of Yemen.
The statement did not directly claim responsibility for those attacks, but said they were timed to coincide with the October 7 anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. It warned of new attacks on Western economic targets.
The writer expressed solidarity with Islamic militants in Indonesia, Kashmir, Afghanistan, the Philippines, and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The statement appeared on an Internet site associated in the past with al Qaeda. The Qatar-based Arabic language network Al-Jazeera said it received a copy of the statement bearing bin Laden's signature. The authenticity of the signature could not be independently verified.
An October 6 recording attributed to bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, threatened fresh attacks against the United States, its economy and its allies. U.S. officials believe the tape was recorded two months prior to its release.
The tape was made public the same day the French tanker Limburg was set ablaze off Yemen, killing one crew member.
The latest tape also warns of more attacks, and defends those threatened actions.