US: The new audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden has shifted the focus in the United States away from the prospect of conflict with Iraq back to the war on terrorism.
It has also revealed to an anxious American public that 14 months after the devastating attacks on America, the mastermind is still at large and determined to pursue his war against the US.
With commentators raising embarrassing questions about priorities in American strategy, President Bush bristled yesterday when asked by a reporter if bin Laden should have been captured sooner by US forces.
"We're making great progress in the war on terror," he said. "We are on a manhunt and we are not quitting. We'll take these people down one at a time. Slowly but surely we're achieving our objectives."
Mr Bush added however: "I'm warning the American people that this is going to take time. This is a different kind of war. Whoever put the tape out has put the world on notice yet again that we're at war."
Technical analysis by US intelligence officials confirmed that the voice on the tape was almost certainly that of bin Laden, providing the first evidence in a year that he survived the American assault on his hideouts in Afghanistan.
In the tape, which was aired on Tuesday by al-Jazeera television, the speaker referred to recent terrorist attacks in Bali, Kuwait, Yemen, Amman and Moscow and specifically warned Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany, Australia and Israel for allying themselves "with the gang of criminality in the White House against Muslims."
Mr Bush last night responded to this depiction of the White House, saying that the United States welcomed Muslims and people of all religions and did not tolerate discrimination against Muslims because of their faith. The administration also announced yesterday an award of $5 million for information leading to the dismantling of terrorist financial networks.
A week after more than 3,000 people were killed in the September 11th, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon, President Bush said he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive." Despite the failure to deliver bin Laden, the administration has claimed success by crippling his organisation and driving him into hiding. Speaking in Florida, Gen Tommy Franks, chief of the US Central Command, said he was sure the al-Qaeda leader was "having a bad year."