CAIRO: Osama Bin Laden s latest video surfaced on Sept. 7, proving that despite contrary claims, Al-Qaeda is alive and kicking. You made one of your greatest mistakes, in that you neither brought to account nor punished those who waged this war, Bin Laden said in reference to the war in Iraq. Bin Laden appeared in a 26-minute video with a banner in the backdrop that read in English: A message from Sheikh Osama Bin Laden to the American people. The latest tape, which ends a near three-year silence by the 50-year-old Al-Qaeda leader, comes just a few days before the six-year anniversary of 9/11. In addition to expressing his surprise that the American public extended the Bush administrations term in office, Bin Laden called upon Americans to embrace Islam in order to stop the war in Iraq. Although most Western media sources said that Bin Laden s comments were free from any direct threats to the American public, Abdel Rehim Aly, manager of the Arab Center for the Study of Islamist Movements, believes that the tape represents a dangerous climax in Bin Laden s rhetoric. Initially, he demanded things like an American exit from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, for Europeans to sever ties with the US. In this tape, he raised the ceiling of his demands to the maximum by demanding that Americans convert to Islam or else fighting will continue to the end of the road, Aly told Daily News Egypt. Aly believes that Bin Laden s sixth address to the American people represents his farewell speech, where he is placing the finishing touches on his ideological legacy. He also believes that Bin Laden s more youthful appearance emulates Prophet Mohamed s (PBUH) example in his farewell speech before his death. He is saying there is no more bargaining unless Americans convert, giving President Bush the greatest gift he could ever wish for, Aly said. If anything, the latest tape highlights Al-Qaeda s ability to refurbish its structural network and continue to manipulate the internet and global media to spread its message. In this latest message he is giving his followers the broad guidelines to abide by after he dies, Aly said. Believed to be centered in the rugged Afghanistan-Pakistan tribal border areas in the frontier city of Peshwar, the organization reportedly compensated for loses in its leadership by promoting loyalists. According to Aly, Al-Qaeda has been able to rebuild itself so well because there seem to be more people helping Bin Laden than there are helping George Bush. Al-Qaeda recruits are so plentiful because they are utilizing the youth s anger from American mismanagement in Iraq, Aly said. The US and Pakistan s inability to capture or kill any major Al-Qaeda figures for the last 18 months in the border areas has increased speculation over the group s organizational resurrection. With unmistakable stupidity, the present US administration has been able to multiply its number of enemies in the region. They are fighting on too many fronts. There is a battle against terrorism, a battle with Iran and Syria, a battle with Russia over the nuclear defense shield, and a battle against some of the gulf s royalty. It is common sense to assume that your enemies will cooperate against you, Aly said. Increasingly potent suicide bombings in Algeria, which over the last couple of days killed at least 50 people, were also claimed by Al-Qaeda s North African Wing, known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. As recently as January 2007, Al-Qaeda did not have a presence in the Maghreb (North African) area. They will continue to gain ground as long as Arab youth have nowhere to channel their anger, Aly said. The absence of open, effective, political channels is a root cause why Al-Qaeda has had so much appeal with Arab youth, according to Aly. They turn to terrorism where they can do something, instead of participating in an inept political process where they would do nothing and still risk going to jail, Aly said.
