Al Qaeda Promises "A Big Surprise," "And Soon, Allah Willing"

...which I assume will not be the pony I've begged my daddy for since I was 34.

A new al Qaeda propaganda ad, headlined "Wait for the Big Surprise" and featuring a digitally altered photograph of President George Bush and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf standing in front of a burning White House, was posted on the Internet today.

The brief clip from al Qaeda's "as Sahab" propaganda arm juxtaposes the doctored photo of Bush and Musharraf along with previously seen images of al Qaeda's top leadership -- Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahri and Adam Gadahn -- as well as a photo of an SUV in a motorcade.

There is no additional information provided in the ad, and it closes with the words, "Soon -- God willing," written across the screen and repeated several times.

Are they suggesting an assassination? And if so, an American one or one in Pakistan? I find the former unlikely -- I have zero confidence in the CIA, not terribly much more in the FBI, but a fair amount in the SS protective division -- and, furthermore, entirely unproductive from their point of view.

I'm not glibly making a Dick Cheney's gonna getcha crack here. But a major assassination (including a failed attempt) will galvanize the American public. It is so infrequently noted that interference by the jihadi world in Western affairs -- intruding into our lives with their hegemonic psychopathy -- makes more anti-terrorists than it kills, to coin a phrase.

I wouldn't dismiss it, of course, and such threats must be taken seriously. But Al Qaeda has lately issued many threats and, outside of Iraq, conducted relatively few successful terrorist attacks.

On the other hand, the Pakistan scenario makes more sense from their point of view, and is likely much more achievable. But they've been trying that for years, haven't they?

Maybe Sky Captain Obama will get his wish regarding the Great Overmountain Invasion of Pakistan sooner than he'd hoped.

Via Hot Air, which I'm sure will have more interesting analysis about this later.

August Storm Warning? Last year scholar of Islam Bernard Lewis noted that August 22nd corresponded to a religiously-numinous date in the Islamic calender.

What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to "the farthest mosque," usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.

Obviously that didn't quite come to pass.

What day this corresponds to on our calender this year I don't know, but I imagine it's at least somewhere in the ballpark of mid-August. (How screwed-up could their calender be at this point? Eh, never mind, I don't think I want to know the answer.)

Probably nothing as it was last year, but I thought I'd mention it. Not because I place much stock in such primitive numerology and anniversaries celebrated with murder, but because they do.

Thanks to dr. akim ullshitbay, which I have "near certainty" is his actual legal given name.

August 11th... This Islamic calender converter tells me "Rajab" 27, 1428 falls on August 11, 2007.

Not happy about that 8/11 date.

Note I screwed up entering the date the first time, putting the wrong numbers into boxes.

Thanks to reliapundit for setting me straight, though he says August 10.

posted by Ace at 08:26 PM

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