It's the typical "convert or die" message from the Jihadists, but his honeyed words are particularly repugnant. Hot Air has the video, and here is a transcript.
He's clearly addressing the anti-war liberals with his references to "major corporations" and global warming, but he has some harsh words for the Democratic Leaders in congress for not doing anything to stop the war after they won their majority. In this, he sounds remarkably like a diarist at DailyKos. His ignorance of America and American history shows in his references to Vietnam and Kennedy.
The video may be an indicator that Al Qaeda has an operation in the works against us, and it may be true, though he doesn't make an explicit threat. It's interesting that a bunch of Jihadi websites shut down once word got out that the US had a copy of the video.
Much has been made of Osama's sexy new look with the cropped, black beard, but it looks as if there's a reason besides vanity.
'As I noted here yesterday, the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence
forbids men and women to dye their hair black "except when the intention is
jihad...as a show of strength to unbelievers" ('Umdat al-Salik e.4.4). OBL is
not a member of the Shafi'i school; the Wahhabis adhere to the Hanbali school,
and the Deobandis (the dominant sect among the Taliban) are Hanbalis. But this
is not just a Shafi'i view: Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, in his internationally
influential The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam, says essentially the same
thing: "Some of the early Muslims, including some sahabah [companions of
Muhammad] such as Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, 'Uqbah ibn 'Amr, al-Hassan, al-Hussein,
Jarir, and others permitted the use of black dye. Some scholars, on the other
hand, do not consider the use of black dye as permissible except during time of
war, when the enemy might be impressed by the fact that all the soldiers of the
Muslim army look young."'
My own impression is that they are not as strong as they would like to be, and that our efforts are having an effect. This attempt to cajole the American people would be laughable, were the situation not so serious.
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