Deaths calculated on video

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden claims he calculated in advance how many casualties "the enemy" would suffer on Sept. 11, according to administration descriptions of a videotape that President Bush said "just reminded me of what a murderer he is."

"For those who see this tape, they realize that not only is he guilty of incredible murder, he has no conscience and no soul," Bush told reporters Monday.

Two senior administration officials said privately that Bush wants to let to the world see the tape seized in Afghanistan. They said he was holding off on a final decision while intelligence officials authenticate their Arabic translation with experts and recheck anything that might betray intelligence-gathering methods.

The tape could be released in the next two days, officials said.

The tape, which was found about 10 days ago in an abandoned apartment in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, was described to reporters by the small circle of administration officials who have seen the video or read a translation of its contents. A date stamped on the tape suggests it was produced in November, one of the officials said.

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

Apparently made by an amateur with a handheld camera, the videotape shows bin Laden being interviewed or meeting with a cleric about the suicide hijackings that killed thousands in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. The suspected terrorist mastermind, speaking in Arabic, reportedly tells the story of how he tuned into news shows on the morning of Sept. 11, waited for reports of the first strikes on the World Trade Center, and then told companions there was more to come — evidently referring to planes that later crashed into the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. He says he had expected New York’s twin towers to collapse only down to the level where the hijacked airliners struck.

Two intelligence officials said bin Laden also revealed that, in advance of Sept. 11, he tallied up how many Americans could be killed, a casualty estimate "for the enemy." About 3,300 people died in the attacks.

In another section of the crudely produced tape, bin Laden’s comments suggest that the plot’s ringleaders did not tell all the hijackers that their mission would end in death. He also says that the suicide hijackers will be awarded virgins in the afterlife, sources said.