Osama’s ‘truce’ proposal

Gotta love that one, tip o’ me tam to Michelle Malkin. To the AP, Bin Laden isn’t an Islamofascist bent on America’s destruction, he’s a ‘dissident’ who disagrees with ‘civilization’ as we know it.

Considering what’s happening in Afghanistan, it seems as though Osama is a little bit worried about the Northern Alliance’s vow to continue hunting Bin Laden and fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban, so he releases a “hudna” statement. Maybe this is just me, but–doesn’t it seem a little bit strange to you–the timing of it?

This is what Muslims call a “hudna”. Apparently they’ve been experiencing significant losses, and they need to regroup to strengthen themselves to continue this fight….or perhaps it’s something that those of us in ‘civilized’ countries can’t quite grasp yet.

In a note I received from Laura Mansfield at LauraMansfield.com:

Although some have postulated that this tape was in response to last Friday’s bombing raid in Pakistan where several top Al Qaeda operatives were killed.

It is more likely that this tape was intended to be released as Bin Laden’s annual Eid message to the Muslim ummah, which has become his de facto state of the ummah address.

The “excuses” for no further attacks to date in the US rings somewhat hollow and apologetic, which is very much out of character for Bin Laden.

Historically Bin Laden tapes have preceded major terror attacks. Given the recent cluster of messages from Zawahiri, and this message from Bin Laden, it is certainly possible that attack preparations are in the final stages.

The “truce offer” is especially disconcerting; under Islamic law, Bin Laden is required to warn his victim and give them an opportunity to come to terms before the attack can be legitimately launched. It is likely that this is what Bin Laden is doing with the truce offer.

Via Breitbart/AP:

Al-Jazeera aired an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden on Thursday, saying al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a truce to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.

oh. They’re making preparations for attacks, but offering a truce? WHAT?

Walid Phares’ transcription of the tape is a must read.

He starts with

وأحوالنا بفضل الله من حسن إلى أحسن وأحوالكم على العكس من ذلك

“Our situation, thanks to Allajh, is better than yours.” This by itself is very indicative. Psychologically, you can see the insistence on projecting a strong al Qaida both to his members and to the Western public.

Then he says:

ولكن استنهض همتي للحديث عن مغالطات رئيسكم بوش المتكررة في تعليقه على نتائج استطلاعات الرأي عندكم والتي أفادت أن الغالبية العظمي منكم يرغبون بسحب القوات الأميركية من العراق، ولكنه اعترض على هذه الرغبة وقال إن سحب القوات يعطي رسالة خاطئة للخصوم وإنه من الأفضل أن نقاتلهم على أرضهم خيرا من أن يقاتلونا على أرضنا

“your polls indicate that your people wants a withdrawal from Iraq, but your President objected as this would constitute a wrong message to the foes. And it is best that we (America) fight them on their land than on ours.”

Go read the rest.

Another tip’o'me tam to Michelle Malkin – “FLASH: BIN LADEN RESURFACES…WITH OLIVE BRANCH?”

Things are rarely as they seem–particularly when Al Qaeda carefully prepares a carefully crafted message for Western consumption.