“… Men like bin Laden will not allow the Islamic world to bow down under the infidel enemies’ tyranny, under the tyranny of America. … Osama bin Laden is a jihad warrior who implemented the principles of Islam. … Allah guarded his soul until he reached a point where he became a hero.”

— Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs preacher Abdallah bin Matruk Al-Haddal, Al-Jazeera, January 2002

Just in time for its 10th anniversary, Al-Jazeera is reportedly set to launch its English-language network November 15. On that day at exactly 3 p.m., Prime Minister Blair is scheduled to take a live tour of Al-Jazeera International’s London bureau and sit down for an interview with Sir David Frost.

The 100-person Al-Jazeera International bureau includes an impressive staff of former CNN, CNBC, BBC, AP TV, and ABC employees. “The launching of the English channel offers the chance to reach out to a new audience that is used to hearing the name of Al-Jazeera without being able to watch it or to understand its language,” the director-general of Al-Jazeera, Wadah Khanfa, said recently.

Al-Jazeera International’s head of news, Steve Clark, told a New Zealand newspaper on May 3 that “Al-Jazeera International will share resources and facilities with its Arabic sister channel, and the two broadcasters will work together on relevant stories.”

When Mr. Clark was asked how a Palestinian Arab suicide bombing in a crowded Israeli marketplace would be reported, he answered, “We don’t condone acts of terror, but we’d be very careful about labeling particular groups as terrorists.”

Over the next few weeks, this column will focus on the controversy surrounding the AJI launch. To understand the true intentions of the network, it is important to examine what Al-Jazeera was broadcasting leading up to and shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

One of the most popular shows on Al-Jazeera, “Opposite Direction,” is hosted by Dr. Faysal Al-Qassem, who could be described as the network’s Larry King. Dr. Qassem is featured prominently on Al-Jazeera’s 10th anniversary Web page.

On July 10, 2001, Dr. Qassem devoted an entire program to “Bin Laden — Arab Despair and American Fear.” As he introduced the show, he said: “Bin Laden has made the greatest power in history shudder at the sound of his name. … Has bin Laden not become a worthy opponent, feared by America? … Who … caused its troops to run like rabbits? … Who has recently become the no. 1 Arab and Islamic hero? Does the U.S. fear him because it sees him as a terrorist, or because he is the conscience of the Arab and Islamic world?”

Another program, from May 23, 2001, was devoted to suicide bombings and how they could be used against America. Many of the notable Arab figures who called in to the May 23 show made threats against American interests. The mufti of the Palestinian Liberation Army, Nader Tamimi, called in and said: “Your hands are blessed when you kill the enemy, blessed be you in heaven, with the Prophet Muhammad. … What have the martyrdom operations achieved so far? They have removed NATO from Lebanon, the American forces from East Saudi Arabia … the American forces from Somalia. My blessings to those who carried out the [USS] Cole operation.”

One might have thought that after September 11, Al-Jazeera would have toned downed its incitement to violence against America, but as this column will show in the coming weeks, it did not.

In Fouad Ajami’s must-read article on Al-Jazeera in the New York Times magazine of November 18, 2001, he eloquently explained: “Al-Jazeera … may not officially be the Osama bin Laden Channel — but he is clearly the star. … The channel’s graphics assign him the lead role: there is bin Laden seated on a mat, his submachine gun on his lap; there is bin Laden on horseback in Afghanistan, the brave knight of the Arab world. A huge, glamorous poster of bin Laden’s silhouette hangs in the background of the main studio set at Al-Jazeera’s headquarters.”

Mr. Ajami also issued a warning about Al-Jazeera that has gone unheard and should be reconsidered as AJI officially opens the doors of its fancy K Street office: “Al-Jazeera’s virulent anti-American bias undercuts all of its virtues. It is … a dangerous force. And it should be treated as such by Washington.”

Mr. Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.