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Video says 'I'm still here,'not much more, analysts say

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 9, 2007

Associated Press

Osama bin Laden's latest message is a hodgepodge of anticapitalist vitriol, impassioned Islamic evangelism and what can best be described as a twisted attempt at reconciliation: Join us, or we'll kill you.

Analysts say the video that came out days before the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks is more about timing than substance, an attempt by history's most-wanted fugitive to thumb his nose at the forces arrayed against him and remind the world that he hasn't been caught.

He ridiculed President Bush on Iraq, saying events there have gotten "out of control" and comparing the U.S. leader to "one who plows and sows the sea: He harvests nothing but failure."

Despite widespread fears, al-Qaida has failed to launch a second attack on the scale of Sept. 11, and many believe the video message - bin Laden's first since 2004 - was also an attempt to stay relevant.

Anne Giudicelli, a former French diplomat specializing in the Middle East who now runs the Paris-based consultancy Terrorisc, said bin Laden is well aware that his reappearance on the world stage - looking fit and with his beard dyed a youthful black - was itself a victory that went beyond anything he actually said.

"The objective is obviously to show that despite everything in place against him, he has survived. That's the No. 1 message," she said.

Whether the video will resonate on the Arab or Muslim street is not clear. In Iraq, where disillusionment with the United States runs high, many people voiced disgust with bin Laden's latest message.

[Last modified September 9, 2007, 00:58:37]