Correction: "passionate" should be "compassionate" (Source: Al-Jazeera)

Just as consensus was emerging that Osama bin Ladin was long dead and Al Qaeda a spent force, a 1-minute voice recording has emerged, in a video with an old photograph of an extremely young Osama bin Ladin, that starts with the incongruous greeting, “From Osama to Obama” ["min Usama ila Obama"].

With exquisite timing for U.S. info-war objectives, the voice accomplishes three things: (1) it links the underpants bomber to Osama bin Ladin (and in Al Qaeda not being just a conspiracy theory, though the word Al Qaeda is conspicuous by it absence from the recording); (2) it attempts to revive the flagging belief in Osama’s being alive; and (3) it is extremely convenient to the U.S. build-up to the “Yem/Som” war.

The tape has been broadcast by Al-Jazeera, which is reportedly under acquisition by a former Israeli media tycoon, Haim Saban; Al-Jazeera is located in Qatar, host to a large U.S. military and intelligence presence and has had close relations with Israel. The Al-Jazeera video (really a voice recording with a static photograph — hardly a proof of life) is reproduced below, together with their write-up, that includes a translation from the Arabic that may be compared with the following alternative, more literal, translation of the voice recording in full:

In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful.

From Usama to Obama. Peace on he who would follow the truth. If words could carry our messages to you, we would not put them on airplanes to send them to you. Because the message we want to get to you by means of the airplane of the mujahid hero, Omar Faruq [Abdulmutallab, more correctly: `Abdulmuttalib, or `Abd al-Muttalib], may God make things easy for him, is just a reminder of a previous message that the heroes of 11th [sic.] had carried to you, and that has been repeated before and after. And that is: America cannot dream of peace until we have actual peace in Palestine. For it is not justice that you enjoy life, while our brothers are leading the dregs of life in Gaza. So, with God’s permission, I warn you: Our attacks on you will continue as long as you continue your help to the Israelis. And peace on he who would follow the truth.

Al-Jazeera | 24 January 2010
Bin Laden claims plane bombing bid
[Square brackets in original; our comments in {curly} brackets]

“I think the validity of this tape should be subjected to scrutiny because we haven’t heard from Mr Bin Laden for quite some time.” — Imtiaz Gul, Chairman, Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad.

Osama Bin Laden has claimed responsibility for the failed attack on a US airliner on December 25 in a new audio tape.

In the tape obtained by Al Jazeera, the world’s most wanted man warns Barack Obama, the US president, that there will be more attacks unless he finds a solution to the Palestinian crisis.

The audio tape is believed to have been recorded last month.

“The message I want to convey to you through the plane of the hero Omar Farouk [Abdulmutallab], reaffirms a previous message that the heroes of 9/11 conveyed to you.

“America will never dream of living in peace unless we live it in Palestine. It is unfair that you enjoy a safe life while our brothers in Gaza suffer greatly.

“Therefore, with God’s will, our attacks on you will continue as long as you continue to support Israel,” bin Laden said.

Al-Qaeda’s leader concluded {sic. – in fact, this occurs at the beginning of the message; see alternative translation above}: “If it was possible to carry our messages to you by words we wouldn’t have carried them to you by planes.”

‘Sense of timing’

Phil Rees, the author of Dining with Terrorists, told Al Jazeera: “Bin Laden has a great sense of timing; it’s a complete poke in the eye to President Obama at a time when Obama is domestically suffering.

“The reference to Palestine is possibly the most interesting part of this because he almost now becomes the al-Qaeda leader that speaks about Palestine. {The significance of this observation is obscure: the earliest speeches attributed to bin Ladin speak of Palestine: see, for example, Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden; reproduced here.}

“What you’ve now got in Gaza is bin Laden looking at the situation where there’s a peace process which is going nowhere, and in an ironic way, Hamas is at the frontline of the battle with al-Qaeda there.”

Abdulmutallab, who is now in US police custody, allegedly attempted to ignite explosives sewn into his underwear as Northwest Airlines Flight 253 made its final descent to Detroit on Christmas Day.

He had boarded the flight in Amsterdam, but purchased his tickets in Ghana on December 16.

Passengers on the flight were able to overpower the would-be bomber as he attempted to ignite the explosive’s fuse.

After being taken into custody, Abdulmuttalab told police he had been directed by al-Qaeda and had obtained his explosive device in Yemen.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the organisation’s affiliate in Yemen, has also claimed responsibility for the attack, describing it as a revenge for the US role in a Yemeni military offensive against al-Qaeda.

Obama has criticised his own intelligence agencies for failing to piece together information about the suspect which should have stopped him boarding the flight. {Comment: Heads should have rolled if it had been a genuine intelligence failure of the proportions it is said to have been; the innumerable lapses that allowed the Nigerian to get through, despite many red flags, fits a fact pattern that is more akin to a false flag operation.}

Palestinian cause

Imtiaz Gul, the chairman of the Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad, told Al Jazeera that the al-Qaeda leader in his new message was likely designed to emphasise his commitment to the cause of the Palestinians.

“Probably this was to remind the Palestinians of al-Qaeda’s commitment to the cause and perhaps coinciding it with the first year of Obama’s presidential office,” he said.

“One thing is very clear, Osama still has followers spread all over the world and such messages do reinvigorate the spirit in these people about their mission.

“I think the validity of this tape should be subjected to scrutiny because we haven’t heard from Mr Bin Laden for quite some time.”

Osama Hamdan, a spokesman for the Palestinian Hamas movement, told Al Jazeera: “All Arabs and Muslims support our cause. [But] the Palestinian position is clear, the resistance is against the occupation, the Israeli army who is occupying and killing our people.

“Everyone knows that the policies of the US have created huge problems in the region. At this moment, we know who our enemy is – the Israeli occupation,” he said.

Source: Aljazeera