8/31/2006 - As Sahab Announces New Zawahiri Video: An Invitation to Islam

[Anna Lytic]

http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/invitationqareb.gif

As Sahab Announces New Zawahiri Video With Above Banner

A banner was placed on multiple jihadi websites this evening advertising the release "soon" of a new video from Al Qaeda second in command Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri.

The banner and accompanying post indicate that the video will feature Zawahiri along with Azzam the American in an "Invitation to Islam".

The banner is of the style and format consistent with previous releases from As Sahab.

We will continue to monitor the websites and post the video as soon as it becomes available.
http://blog.lauramansfield.com/

[kotzi]

Towards the end of the tape he is addressing service men and women who whe knows are nowadays using the internet by way of youtube to voice their frustration, and he thinks they will download his little show. He is calling straight to defect or quit service because "Bush can't help you on the day of final judgement".

Now, what do we make of this? The foiled UK airline plot would have come too early for this "final warning" if we were to believe authorities about the 08/16 date, wouldn't it? In my opinion, this is NOT a final warning, but it is a continuation of AQ to "educate" us about their goals, and to incite otherwise unrelated groups to carry out their own small or large terror attacks. See Madrid (I read the attack was non-related to AQ) or Germany (their motive was the "caricature war" and the death of Zarqawi). What does that tell us about the state of AQ? Maybe there is a dirty nuke somewhere, but by and large, all they do now is ride the wave that 9/11 and the Bush/Blair administration has created (they have released this year more statements than Letterman "all-new" shows) and hope that the combination of war fatigue and continued psychoterror will drive out the US military and support from the ME, which is all they want (for now).

[kotzi]

Similar to what I said before, but more detailed (found this just now):

September 2, 2006
The "Azzam" Threat: A prelude to Future Jihad in America
By Walid Phares

The video tape issued by al Qaeda’s “as-sahhab” production, in which Ayman Zawahiri introduces Jihadist Adam Gahdan to the world as a senior speaker to the American people on behalf of the movement, should be taken seriously. Not necessarily at the level of detecting the next Terror attack but at the level of understanding this prelude to Future Jihad both in America and within the West. I wasn’t surprised at all by the 45 minutes elaboration by convert Gahdan regarding all of the issues he raised. For “Azzam al Amrikee” is the clearest specimen of Jihadism’s second generation within the US, in as much as the 7/7 videos revealed the type of future Jihadists for Great Britain’s second generation. However, when one would listen carefully to the taped video, you’d find a treasure of knowledge and indicators for the current state of thinking of al Qaeda and its ideologues. In short it is a sample of what is on the mind of Salafi Jihadists for the United States and the West. Following are few of the issues I noted:

Read More »

1) The hand behind the message

In short, Azzam’s videotaped message is indeed “American.” Experts have heard it in US and Canadian cities and internet is flowing with it. Whether Gadahn was reading from a prompter or not –and I believe he was with great skills- I tend to believe that such a speech –rather than being dismissed as mere propaganda- is a message coming to us from what’s already inserted inside America, which leads me to the second point

2) Who is it destined to?

It is basically addressed to those who will carry a “Jihad in America,” possibly asserting Adam Gahdan as their leader. Also, this is a very intelligent move to pierce the linguistic shield of America’s media and reach US citizens directly, as a way to spread confusion at least among those who have a hazy understanding of the Jihadists.

3) The ideological platform

In short, the “Azzam” video reconfirms clearly, in an English language that academic translators won’t be able to distort, that al Qaeda’s movement worldwide and in the United States is seeking total annihilation or conversion of the enemy: American and other democracies.

4) Argumentation tactics:

The “speech writer,” emulating many commentators on al Jazeera or al Manar, hopes to rally many among those who “hate Bush and Blair” but stops short of stating that Jihadism will hate all future US Presidents and British Prime Ministers “if they do not convert.” He reminds us of the Crusades, Inquisition, Hiroshima, and killings in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obviously, the “writer” skips the Genocides of Sudan, and the massacres of Algeria, the Kurds, Shiites perpetrated by Salafists or Baathists.

5) The enemies of Jihad in America

Sensationally but not unexpectedly, he “names” a number of intellectual-enemies in this country: Daniel Pipes, Steven Emerson, Robert Spencer and Michael Spencer. Rarely Jihadi Terrorists at this high level media exposure named symbols of their enemy’s intelligentsia. And in addition to “experts” named in the tape, Gadahn goes on a ferocious attack against American “Tele-Evangelists” and their media, showing the other type of foes al Qaeda is very upset with.

6) The “friends” of al Qaeda?

“Azzam” names “sympathetic” personalities for whom he has messages for action; He asks journalist Seymour Hirsh to “reveal more” than what was published in a New Yorker article on the War: Obviously an open call by al Qaeda to M Hirsch to resume the attack against the US War on Terror. Then “Azzam” turn to two British journalists and thank them for their “admiration and respect for Islam” encourage them to do the final step: Convert. He names British MP George Galloway and journalist Robert Fisk. But more troubling in Gadahn’s tape was his direct call to Jihadists within the US Armed forces to work patiently till the time comes and they should continue to aggregate while escaping the surveillance of their military authorities. This theme, which I covered briefly in Future Jihad, is of great concern to US national security. The “Azzam” speech brings further concerns as to the credibility of this threat.


7) The Al Qaeda offer: Conversion or fire

“Azzam”’s mission in this tape was to deliver a message. His bottom line is this: We –the Jihadists- have you cornered everywhere and you are not going to win this war. His central message is typically Jihadic: “Surrender, convert or the fire:” Meaning war on Earth, all of it, and Hell fire after death.

This fascinating and revealing taped-speech bring the American public even closer to what lays ahead for this generation and the next one as long as the Jihadist ideology is spreading inside America and worldwide.

****

PS: This is a short version posting. The longer version will be posted later.

Dr Walid Phares is a Senior Fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a visiting Fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy. He is the author of Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against America.

http://www.counterterrorismblog.org/

[Petronas]

Listen carefully:
troubling in Gadahn’s tape was his direct call to Jihadists within the US Armed forces to work patiently till the time comes and they should continue to aggregate while escaping the surveillance of their military authorities.

[kotzi]

Listen carefully:

Yupp. Noticed that later myself. Was perhaps still half asleep at the time of writing :-)

[Petronas]

Recall the criticism from some jihadi quarters that OBL had not given the US before the 9/11 attacks the warning that it needed to convert to Islam to avoid being attacked. Rant or precursor to another attack in the near future?

Convert or die
By Michelle Malkin
September 02, 2006 11:18 PM

I've transcribed a sample of American al Qaeda Adam Gadahn's rant:

"Islam is the only religion acceptable to God and came with the revealed book, the Koran, which abrogates all previous revelations, like the Torah and Evangel... God recognizes no separation between religion and state..."

"To Americans and the rest of Christendom we say, either repent (your) misguided ways and enter into the light of truth or keep your poison to yourself and suffer the consequences in this world and the next..."

"If the Zionist crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants like Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Michael Scheuer, Steven Emerson, and yes, even the crusader-in-chief George W. Bush were to abandon their unbelief and repent and enter into the light of Islam and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam. And we send a special invitation to all of you fighting Bush's crusader pipe dream in Afghanistan, Iraq, and wherever else W. has sent you to die."

Reuters' brief report doesn't mention Gadahn's targeting of Pipes, Emerson, Scheuer, and Spencer. Gadahn also extended a special plea to one of al Qaeda's favorite journalists, Seymour Hersh.

More:

"Why not surrender to the truth? Escape from the unbelieving army and join the winning side. As for those who have expressed their respect and admiration for Islam, and acknowledged that it is the truth and demonstrated the support and sympathy for the Muslims and their causes like George Galloway, Robert Fisk, and countless others, I say to them, isn't it time you stopped sitting on the fence and came over to the side of truth? ...Abandon unbelief and accept the truth."

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005851.htm

[Casey]

Recall the criticism from some jihadi quarters that OBL had not given the US before the 9/11 attacks the warning that it needed to convert to Islam to avoid being attacked. Rant or precursor to another attack in the near future?
That is exactly what I have been thinking.


Convert or die
By Michelle Malkin
September 02, 2006 11:18 PM

I've transcribed a sample of American al Qaeda Adam Gadahn's rant:

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005851.htm
Thank you, Michelle Malkin. I started to transcribe it but just haven't had time to complete it.

Here is the fist 5 minutes of the video:


An Invitation to Islam (http://worldanalysis.org/Files/090206.htm)

Azzam

We invite all Americans and other unbelievers to Islam where ever they are and whatever their .... state is in Bush and Blair world order.

AZ

In the name of Allah and all praise is due Allah,

And may peace and prayers be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family companions and allies

To the American people in particular and all Western peoples in general

Peace be upoin he who follows the guidance

Allah sent his Prophet Muhammed, peace and prayers of Allah be upon him, with guidance and the religion of truth to make it victorious over all religions, and sent him, peace be upon him

as a bringer of good news and a warner,

The Truth, Exalted is He, says,

"He is the one who sent His Messenger with Guidance and the religion of truth to make it victorious over all religions even though the polytheists hate [it]" 9:33

And He - Exalted is He - said,

"O Prophet Truly we have sent you as a witness,
a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner, and as one who invites to Allah by His leave,
and as a lamp spreading light" [33-45-46]

And He ordered him to sell to his Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching.

He - Exalted is He - said,

Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdome and beautiful preaching, and argue with them in the best way.

Verily your Lord knows best who has strayed from His path,
and He knows best who is guided" [16-105]

And the Master, Exalted is He, has singled out the People of the Book with a special invitation to believe in this Prophet
who believe in all of Allah's Books and Messenger,
and who brought a miraculous preserved Book which has not been changed or corrupted
like previous Books were changed and corrupted.

Moreover, it is a miraculous Book which callenges mankind
until the Day of Resurrection to produce its like
Allah the Exalted said to His Prophet, peace be upon him,
"Say O People of the Book!
Come to common terms between us and you
That we worship none but Allah
that we associate no partners with him
and that we erect not from among ourselves
Lords and patrons other than Allah

If then they turn back then say
Bear witness that we are Muslims bowing to Allah's will" [3:64]

And He - Exalted is He - said,

"O People of the Book!
Our Messenger has come to you, revealing to you
much of that which you used to hide of the Book
and passing over much that is now unnecessay

There has come to you from Allah a Light and a clarifying Book
with which Allah guides all who seek His good pleasure
to the ways of peace and leads them out of darkness
into the light by His will and guides them to a straight path" [5-15-16]

Among those who have responded to this noble divine call is our borther Azzam the American
whom we ask Allah to count among those in whom is realized the statement of the Truth,
Exalted is He

"And there are among the People of the Boiok those who believe in Allah
and in the revelation to you and the revelation to them
bowing in humility to Allah

They do not seel the signs of Allah for amiserable gain!

They have then reward with their Lord,
and Allah is swift in accounting." [3:199]

And as our brother Azzam the American talks to you he talsk to you as one concerned about the fate which awaits his people,
and as a perceptive person who wants to lead his people out of darkness into the light.

So listen to him because what he is talking to you about is serious and significant
He is talking toyou about the fate which awaits every human an extremely grave issue
in which there is no joking procrastination or backtracking

I ask Allah to open your hearts to _____hting from his words and experience
And Allah speaks the truth and guides to the path
And our final prayer is that all praise is due to Allah
and may Allah send prayers and peace on His Messenger Muhammad and his family and companions.

Azzam

[Arabic]

Our praise is due to God who said in his glorious book
and only .???... of people of the book in the best way accept with the oppressors around them

[Vancouver]

I just don't see any evidence in this tape that Gadahn is privy to any plot currently in the works. On the contrary, he talks like somebody who is isolated and idle, and has been so for quite a while.
1) He is trying to recruit killers from Kufr. For this purpose he repeats stuff that he wrote years ago (for the Muslim Students Association) about his objections to the incoherent doctrines of Chrisitianity, e.g. the Trinity.
2) He spends many minutes relishing his own quasi-intellectual religious rhetoric. Gadahn regards himself as a person of high intellect, and he wants others to regard him that way too.
3) He flames against Bush and the Zionists and so on, just as millions of nobodies do on the internet.
4) About style rather than content, Gadahn uses many polemics and sarcastic gestures. This is slightly suggestive of frustration in Gadahn, but I think it's an affected mannerism motivated by Gadahn's intellectual narcissism.
5) He puts on a show of contempt for Daniel Pipes and a couple of other high-profile but unimportant Islam-bashers. On the other side, he invites two specific guys who sing his tune to "get off the fence" and convert to Islam: Robert Fisk and George Galloway! Deduce for yourself how Adam Gadahn has been spending his time.

[Casey]

I just don't see any evidence in this tape that Gadahn is privy to any plot currently in the works.
I agree.

I don't view him as leadership material.

His claim to fame IMO is the shock value that he was raised in America and if he had any clout AZ would not have had to do the introduction of the video.

As I have stated elsewhere, I can't picture him wearing an explosive belt, just in case they are coming to get him.

[kotzi]

Deduce for yourself how Adam Gadahn has been spending his time.

As it seems: Internet surfing, channel hopping, putting this tape together and making internet banners, and decorating his workstation with a blue backlight. I wonder what the salary is that comes attached to this rather attractive job description :)

However, as I have pointed out in another section, to me he does not seem more arrogant or narcist than most reborn evangelist preachers on their crusades to win new followers for Jesus. In fact, he is using merely exactly the same tactics as those people he despises (televangelists).

[MerlboroMan]

:happy_01:
As it seems: Internet surfing, channel hopping, putting this tape together and making internet banners, and decorating his workstation with a blue backlight. I wonder what the salary is that comes attached to this rather attractive job description :)

However, as I have pointed out in another section, to me he does not seem more arrogant or narcist than most reborn evangelist preachers on their crusades to win new followers for Jesus. In fact, he is using merely exactly the same tactics as those people he despises (televangelists).
:happy_01:

Rather pathetic, ain't he?

[Chaos]

I just don't see any evidence in this tape that Gadahn is privy to any plot currently in the works. On the contrary, he talks like somebody who is isolated and idle, and has been so for quite a while.
1) He is trying to recruit killers from Kufr. For this purpose he repeats stuff that he wrote years ago (for the Muslim Students Association) about his objections to the incoherent doctrines of Chrisitianity, e.g. the Trinity.
2) He spends many minutes relishing his own quasi-intellectual religious rhetoric. Gadahn regards himself as a person of high intellect, and he wants others to regard him that way too.
3) He flames against Bush and the Zionists and so on, just as millions of nobodies do on the internet.
4) About style rather than content, Gadahn uses many polemics and sarcastic gestures. This is slightly suggestive of frustration in Gadahn, but I think it's an affected mannerism motivated by Gadahn's intellectual narcissism.
5) He puts on a show of contempt for Daniel Pipes and a couple of other high-profile but unimportant Islam-bashers. On the other side, he invites two specific guys who sing his tune to "get off the fence" and convert to Islam: Robert Fisk and George Galloway! Deduce for yourself how Adam Gadahn has been spending his time.

My take is, the guy has probably been pestering some level of the leadership of AQ, probably for years, to let him do a persuasive speech to the West. He probably believes he can actually persuade some of us to come to Islam. Same as has been said, grew up a loser, made fun of for his lisp, thought he could BE somebody by throwing in with AQ. They likely consider him a marginally useful idiot. They might have eventually decided they had nothing to lose, and let him make his little film. No way he'd be trusted with any information of value, or allowed the "honor" of sending any coded messages. The pitch is exactly as it appears to be, IMO... a poor attempt at persuation created by people with no real idea of who their audience is, or what they believe in.

I think the fil illustrates the single most glaring weakness of AQ.. they still don't understand the West, and don't know who they're fighting. They didn't even understand the Iraqis when they went in there with a heavy hand and tried to force them to live up to their "obligations" as Muslims. They blew it there, and still have, again IMO, very little chance of success against us simply because they don't understand the people they're fighting.

Like anyone is going to see this film and be convinced to even check out Islam. Who the hell would want to hang around with that dee dee dee? :add09:

[Vancouver]

My take is, the guy has probably been pestering some level of the leadership of AQ, probably for years, to let him do a persuasive speech to the West.I think you're right. This video was Gadahn's idea. Same goes for the earlier video in which his face is covered and there is a boyish voice playing the part of an interviewer. Gadahn wants publicity for himself.
I cannot picture any Arab or Pakistani terrorist taking orders from Adam Gadahn.

[kotzi]

As I have stated elsewhere, I can't picture him wearing an explosive belt, just in case they are coming to get him.

A surprising new redefinition of the "dirty bomb".

:add09:

[Anna Lytic]

There's a transcript here:
http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/zawahiri090106.asp