Al-Qaida's Yemeni affiliate has unexpectedly released a final video from slain YouTube propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki. But don't expect an unreleased message from beyond the grave, Tupac style. It seems the only thing left of his preaching is the highlight reel.
On Tuesday, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula's al-Malahim Media arm describes the new tape as a "a recorded message that was taken from the archive" of Awlaki and addressed to Americans and Muslims in the west.
But as terrorism expert J.M. Berger notes, almost all of Awlaki's speech covers material taken directly from his March 2010 missive, "Call to Jihad." In both tapes, Awlaki unloads on American Muslims for their patriotism in standing with the Army and the FBI. He disputes that Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Malik Hasan was motivated by mental problems, preferring to cast him as a jihadi hero. And in contrast to his father's depiction of him as reconciling Islam with the west, the tapes show Awlaki pressuring Muslims to leave their homes in the U.S. and join up with al-Qaida.
The speech only takes up around half of the 33-minute video. The rest of the film is taken up by a hagiography of Awlaki narrated by the group's top religious leader, Ibrahim al-Rubaysh. There's also a brief interview with an English-speaker, identified "Brother Abu Yazeed." Yazeed whose face is obscured by shadows, criticizes the U.S. for killing Awlaki, an American citizen, in a drone strike without judicial review. "For us, we don't recognize America's laws," he scoffs, "let alone the fake rights of the U.S. citizenship." OK then.
The lack of original material in the release would seem to indicate that the Awlaki canon is closed. If a new generation of jihadis is going to find inspiration in his words, as many have feared, they're probably going to have to stick to those already blasted out on the internet.
Photo: Al-Malahim Media
