Al-Zarqawi -- The Video

The face

It seems that jealousy may be rearing its ugly head among Islamic terrorists.

First, Osama bin Laden puts out an audiotape.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi answers that with a videotape. Apparently, he didn't want to let bin Laden steal the spotlight, so he grabbed the world's attention by showing his face -- a first.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi revealed his face for the first time Tuesday in a dramatic video in which he dismissed Iraq's new government as an American "stooge" and called it a "poisoned dagger" in the heart of the Muslim world.

The video, in which he also warned of more attacks to come, was posted on the Internet only days after a breakthrough in Iraq's political process allowing its Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders to start assembling a government.

It also followed a high-profile audiotape from Osama bin Laden and seemed a deliberate attempt by al-Zarqawi to reclaim the spotlight following months of taking a lower profile amid criticism of bombings against civilians. It was his first message since January.

...[It] appeared to be an attempt by the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq to rally Iraqis and foreign fighters to his side at a time when U.S. and Iraqi officials are touting political progress as a setback to insurgents.

Al-Zarqawi appeared in the 30-minute video, which he said was made Friday, dressed head-to-toe in black with a black scarf around his head and a beard and mustache.

He seemed healthy, shown in one scene standing and firing a heavy machine gun in a flat desert landscape that resembled the vast empty stretches of western Iraq, where he is believed to be hiding.

Not quail hunting

He delivered his statement, sitting inside with an ammunition vest hung from his neck and an automatic rifle propped nearby.

America's leader, President Bush, has been called a trigger happy cowboy, a saber-rattling monster, and a terrorist.

He doesn't dress the part, like al-Zarqawi.

When Bush addresses the American people, I've never seen him wearing an ammunition vest.

Also, when Bush speaks from the Oval office, there are usually family photos visible behind him, not an automatic rifle.

Just an observation.

Al-Zarqawi addressed Sunni Arabs in Iraq and across the Arab world, warning that their community was in danger of being caught between "the Crusaders and the evil Rejectionists," the terms used by radical Sunnis for the Americans and the Shiites.

"God almighty has chosen you (Sunnis) to conduct holy war in your lands and has opened the doors of paradise to you ... So mujahedeen, don't dare close those doors," he said. "They are slaughtering your children and shaming your women."

In other words, al-Zarqawi is saying that God wants Sunnis to kill themselves in order to kill others. He's urging them to commit murder while committing suicide.

God almighty.

Any new government _ "whether made up of the hated Shiites or the secular Zionist Kurds or the collaborators imposed on the Sunnis _ will be stooges of the Crusaders and will be a poisoned dagger in the heart of the Islamic nation," he said.

I take it al-Zarqawi has some misgivings about a new government.

He trumpeted the success of the insurgency, saying "when the enemy entered into Iraq, their aim was to control Iraq and the area. But here we have been fighting them for the last three years."

Quagmire.

He sounds like John Murtha and those anti-Rumsfeld retired generals.

He addressed President Bush, telling him, "By God, you will have no peace in the land of Islam."

"Your dreams will be defeated by our blood and by our bodies. What is coming is even worse," he said.

Al-Zarqawi is pushing for American retreat and defeat, though he didn't set any timetable for troop withdrawal.

He differs with John Kerry and Russ Feingold on that point.

...The footage showed al-Zarqawi and about two dozen insurgents undergoing combat training together.

In another scene, he sat indoors with masked lieutenants and a man identified in a caption as the insurgent commander for Iraq's western province of Anbar. The men, sitting on traditional Arab cushions and mats, were discussing strategy over a large map spread on the ground. Only his face was shown.

How fascinating! A glimpse behind the scenes.

So that's what planning the deaths of innocents looks like.

What extraordinary access for the maker of the video!


Story time!

...Tuesday's video was issued under the aegis of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, whose logo appeared on the screen, along with the black flag logo of al-Qaida in Iraq.

I don't like all those logos. They clutter up the screen. They're annoying. Al-Zarqawi should consider a more stripped down style next time. He should keep his audience focused on his face and his gun rather than distract the viewers with logos.

Visually, I give the video a thumbs down. The production values are very low and rather embarrassing.

On content, I give it two thumbs down. We've heard it all before. Stale. Very stale.