Inside Zawahiri's "message"

Whalid Phares:

The new Zawahiri videotape released by al Jazeera today shows a sophistication in the propaganda war waged by the Jihadists worldwide against the US and its allies. Designed to "crumble" the morale of the American public and "boost" the commitments of the Jihadi forces, the tape is another attempt to score points in the War of ideas and media. The results were immediate in the West. The Associated Press immediate leads were stunning: 1) Zawahiri proves he wasn't killed by the US strike, therefore he scored one point against the US. 2) He labeled his enemy, the US President, as "butcher of Washington," hence attempting to rally the widest anti-American axis as possible AP lead. But the tape is not just that, another message from the number two in al Qaida. It is a very well orchestrated political offensive aimed at the nervous centers of the "enemy's public. A shot that may preceed action or asking for it....

...

... The Jihadi camp is increasingly concerned that out of the West and the Arab world, a new analysis is explaining that it is al Qaida which is not achieving its goals with the peoples it wants to enlist. It is against this particular analysis of the War on Terror, that the "architects" of the tape are attempting to redress the political situation in their own midst.
These is quite a bit more. Phares does not really address the ridiculousness of a guy cowering behind a video recorder hiding in a cave or in a city in Pakistan making claims of victory, at the same time his forces have had their but kicked in Afghanistan and Iraq. He sounds desperate for a truce, jsut as bin Laden did and angry that it is being rejected. These are not the actions of a man who is winning. If he were winning he would be able to make public appearances live. It is also interesting that the guy who was responsible for the deaths of 3000 innocent Americans in one day is whining about the collateral damage to a group of people who have been aiding and abetting his unlawful flight to avoid justice for his crimes.

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