...and on. You could say that Zawahiri is a blowhard, but that would be a disservice to the blowhards of the world. He's really in a different league. The complete text of Zawahiri's latest video tape, released a couple of days ago, is here. But, hey--I read it all, so you won't have to.

There are a few interesting bits. There is a lot of emphasis on Sharia as the only basis on which a government can be organized, e.g.:

[T]he first of these facts which we must be conscious of and focus on and repeatedly emphasize, is that the fighting must be for elevating the Word of Allah, and that the elevation of Allah’s Word on His earth means the elevation of His Law (Shari’ah), and that the Muslim cannot possibly be a believer without litigating to Divine Law alone to the exclusion of all other laws. [Koran quote omitted.] Thus, it is unimaginable that the Muslims could create a government in Palestine or elsewhere based on the rule of other than the Shari’ah, and whose authority doesn’t come from the Shari’ah.

Zawahiri yammers on about "Palestine," as you would expect. This formulation, though, is interesting:

And the second of these facts is that the recovery of every land which was once a land of Islam is the personal duty of every Muslim. Therefore, as Muslims, we cannot possibly concede to Israel so much as a hand-span of Palestine, and there is no difference as far as we are concerned between Palestine 1948 and Palestine 1967: all of it is Palestine and all of it belongs to the Muslims....

Bear in mind that the "land which was once a land of Islam" includes much of the Balkans, all of Spain, and a good bit of France.

I found this paragraph, addressed to jihadists in Somalia, interesting:

Brothers in Islam and Jihad in Somalia: know that you are on the southern garrison of Islam, so don’t allow Islam to be attacked from your flank, and know that we are with you, and that the entire Muslim Ummah is with you. [Koran quote omitted.] And know that you are fending off the same Crusade which is fighting your brothers in Islam in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. So be resolute, be patient and be optimistic, for by Allah beside whom there is no other god, even if your enemies possess thousands of tons of iron and explosives, in their chests lie the hearts of mice.

I actually agree with Zawahiri on that one: the battle in Somalia is the same battle as in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, "Palestine," and Lebanon. Someone please tell the Democrats. Speaking of the Democrats, Zawahiri had words especially for them:

The third thing I wish to talk about is a message to the Democrats in America.

I tell them: you must realize two facts.

The first is that you aren’t the ones who won the midterm elections, nor are the Republicans the ones who lost: rather, the Mujahideen – the Muslim Ummah’s vanguard in Afghanistan and Iraq – are the ones who won, and the American forces and their Crusader allies are the ones who lost.

Hmm. Once again, I think he has a point. He continues:

The second fact is that the Mujahideen are still – by the grace of Allah – in the field, their weapons with which they fell the Democrats are still ready and aimed, and the Mujahideen won’t stop inflicting losses on you until you leave our lands, stop plundering our treasures, and stop backing the corrupt rulers in our countries.

And if you don’t refrain from the foolish American policy of backing Israel, occupying the lands of Islam, and stealing the treasures of the Muslims, then await the same fate.

One of the ironies here, of course, is that the Bush administration has stopped "backing the corrupt rulers in our countries," or, at least, has begun that process. That's what the policy of bringing reform and democracy to the Arab world is all about. In so doing, Bush has broken with the "realists," like those who authored the ISG report. But Zawahiri doesn't think much of them either:

And I tell both the Republicans and Democrats: you are attempting in panic to find a way out of the disasters which surround you in Iraq and Afghanistan, but you are still thinking with the same idiotic mentality. Thus you try to negotiate with certain parties to secure your departure, although these parties don’t have a way out for you, and your attempts will only succeed in further frustrating you, Allah willing, because you aren’t negotiating with the real powers in the Islamic world. And it appears that you shall embark on a painful journey of failed negotiations, after which you shall come back – Allah permitting – with no other choice but to negotiate with the real powers.

Once again, Zawahiri isn't entirely wrong: negotiating with Iran and Syria, as recommended by the ISG, would indeed be futile. But, obviously, there is no point in negotiating with Zawahiri and his minions, either.

Near the end, Zawahiri addresses the American people:

The fourth thing I wish to talk about is a message to the American people. I say to them: you only realized the failure of the administration and toppled the Republicans’ candidates after the Mujahideen slaughtered you, and you didn’t listen to the voice of morality, justice, principles and intellect. And the Mujahideen’s weapons continue to be raised and aimed, by the grace of Allah.

The formula for your safety is “You shall never dream of security until we truly experience it in Palestine and all lands of Islam,” and not the fallacious formula with which Bush deceives you when he says, “We strike the terrorists in their countries so that they don’t strike us in ours.” On the contrary: if we are struck in our countries, we shall never stop striking you in your countries, with Allah’s power and permission.

A convenient rewriting of history: in fact, al Qaeda struck us first, and our retaliation was slow and halting until after September 2001.

The fact that Zawahiri has put out a series of videos this year, while bin Laden has not, has several possible explanations. Perhaps Zawahiri is closer to civilization; perhaps he is in better health than bin Laden; perhaps the jihadists are more willing to endanger Zawahiri by producing videos than bin Laden; perhaps bin Laden is dead or dying. We can only hope.

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Posted by John at 06:55 PM  |    |