The Arabic-language network al-Jazeera aired portions of the videotape Friday, but released the full transcript of the tape on its Web site Monday to dispel rumors it had edited out direct threats.
Among comments not released until Monday, bin Laden said: "We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy," adding it was "easy for us to provoke and bait this administration."
As part of the "bleed-until-bankruptcy plan," bin Laden cited a British estimate that it cost al-Qaida about $500,000 to carry out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, an amount he said paled in comparison with the costs incurred by the United States.
"Every dollar of al-Qaida defeated a million dollars, by the permission of Allah, besides the loss of a huge number of jobs," he said.
U.S. intelligence officials confirmed Monday the transcript made public Monday was a complete one, CNN reported.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International
