Hot Air » Blog Archive » New Al Qaeda “big surprise” a fat load of nothing

New Al Qaeda “big surprise” a fat load of nothing

posted at 1:45 pm on August 5, 2007 by Allahpundit
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly

You can download the whole 77-minute monstrosity from Laura Mansfield, but since it’s not subtitled, stick with her and Rusty’s summaries instead. Gadahn and Zawahiri appear sporadically throughout to threaten U.S. embassies, compare international law to shari’a, perform a hilarious Arabic version of “Who’s on First?”, etc etc. For the record, it looks like the Shukrijumah lookalike is just that — a lookalike. He appears throughout the video too; according to Rusty, the Urdu script at one point identifies him as “Qari Uthman.” Laura thinks he’s the guy who perpetrated the suicide bomb attack that killed U.S. diplomat David Foy in Karachi last year. A google search on the name turns up a “Qari Usman” from Karachi who tried to kill Musharraf in 2003 and was subsequently linked to the London bombings. Given all the threats against Musharraf that AQ’s been making lately, he’s probably the man in the vid. Except … according to the Times of London, he was arrested in July 2005. Did the Pakistanis let him go in the interim? Another possibility is that the man is Qari Mohammed Zafar, the alleged mastermind of the Foy bombing, who was at large in Waziristan at the time of the attack. Maybe he and Qari Usman are the same guy, maybe they’re two different people, maybe neither is the man in the vid. It’s fun to play “guess that murderer,” though.

Here are the first 30 seconds or so of the vid in which the bombing is reenacted. How soon before as-Sahab launches its first video game?

Update: WaPo recounts on page one today in excruciating detail how long it took for Musharraf to realize that his peace treaty with the tribal elders was a jihadi bonanza. Ten months in all, during which AQ was able to rebuild its leadership and set up a new base. Inaction seems to be a hallmark of his management style.

Update: The Blotter ID’s the mystery man/bomber as Al Hafez Othman.

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Trackbacks/Pings

Trackback URL

Comments

Comment pages:

After several assassination attempts against his life, Musharraf has to know that things as they are now cannot go further. The risk of losing his country to religious fanatics is not going away. He needs to give us the opportunity of helping him preserve their standard of living and keep sharia law in the closet. (Very discreetly, of course)

volsense on August 5, 2007 at 1:52 PM

Terrorists who can, attack. Terrorists who can’t, threaten.

Tantor on August 5, 2007 at 2:02 PM

That animation seems more like wishful thinking than an actionable plan…

Zorro on August 5, 2007 at 2:25 PM

I hope we will soon see Gadahn’s and Zawahiri’s dead bodies on display the way Zarqawi’s was.

Terrorists who can, do. Terrorists who can’t, make inspirational videos.

georgej on August 5, 2007 at 3:01 PM

Gadahn is the ultimate progressive.

Entelechy on August 5, 2007 at 3:25 PM

Hhmmm Gadahn says that the respect they hold for international law is less the respect we hold for Sharia. He is delusional. How does he not understand that is not even possible. There is no more less than none, zero, zip, nada. No “less” than total and absolute contempt on every level. He must have been talking to the Kos Kids.

deepdiver on August 5, 2007 at 3:37 PM

It’s a Bush trick. He’s just trying to scare us into changing the FISA laws so Alberto Gonzales can spy on Americans. Either that or someone on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives lied to me.

Lied to me eh? Lot of that going around these days.

In my prior life of an airport security consultant we used the term “respectable terrorist”. That term can never be applied to Gadahn.

TunaTalon on August 5, 2007 at 3:53 PM

Since when do important government officials drive motorcades through parking lots in old Ford Explorers?

I would love to see Gadahn try that smug crap while in custody.

PBoilermaker on August 5, 2007 at 4:48 PM

Pig eating little terrorist Gadahn.

I also hope we will soon see Gadahn’s and Zawahiri’s dead bodies in on display. The played thier boggyman card tooo
many times. It’s time ti take the little bastards out. . .

Texyank on August 5, 2007 at 5:36 PM

we used the term “respectable terrorist”. That term can never be applied to Gadahn.

TunaTalon on August 5, 2007 at 3:53 PM

Which terrorist can it apply to?

Entelechy on August 5, 2007 at 5:50 PM

Like most trailers it seemed so full of promise. I’m not trying to Olby terror at all. But didn’t we know much of what was said here. I only read the summaries, so maybe I missed something. They’re not giving up so neither should we.

PowWow on August 5, 2007 at 7:25 PM

Anyone else beginning to suspect that Zawahiri et al has gone to the well to get a bucket of cold clear water, only to come up with a half bucket of sand?

Bravado and braggadocio can only take you so far, then you have to actually DO something even if it is just to prove that you still can.

What is the current day rate of exploding cars in Iraq? From several each day down to one every few days?

rockhauler on August 5, 2007 at 7:40 PM

Sheesh, just like with Hollywood; The trailer was better than the movie.

- The Cat

P.S. Anyone railing to take allah akbar out of the vid, or is that only for video games?

MirCat on August 5, 2007 at 7:47 PM

we used the term “respectable terrorist”. That term can never be applied to Gadahn. TunaTalon on August 5, 2007 at 3:53 PM
Which terrorist can it apply to?
Entelechy on August 5, 2007 at 5:50 PM

A respectable terrorist is one whose ability to harm you should be respected. Before 9/11 the example was Abu Nidal who in 1985 killed 16 and wounded 99 at the El Al counter in the Rome airport. They were organized and deadly. Their ideology was not respectable, but they proved to be a dangerous enemy. The general public may simply hate such enemies but countering them demands respect for what they are capable of.

A less than respectable terrorist example happened on July 4 2002 at another El Al counter in LAX. On that day a single nut with a single pistol killed two people before the El Al security force “resolved the incident”. He was not organized, and had no real plan. He gets no respect from security people. He was simply knocked down first and then shot. That way no innocent person was in the line of fire.