Adam Yahiye Gadahn

Adam Yahiye Gadahn


Looking for something to do this Labor Day weekend?

Adam Yahiye Gadahn has a suggestion for his fellow Americans.

CONVERT TO ISLAM

DUBAI, Sept. 2 (Reuters) -- Al Qaeda, in a video posted Saturday on the Internet, called for President Bush and non-Muslims, especially those in the United States, to convert to Islam and abandon their “misguided” ways, or else suffer the consequences.

Is the ACLU going to sue over this?

You know how bent out of shape they get when someone mentions God at a high school graduation.

I can't imagine that this threat is going to go over well with them.

Will Michael Newdow agree to convert from Atheism to Islam? Hmmm. He can't bear the thought of the Pledge of Allegiance being said in a classroom. I don't think he'd be willing to buy his safety from terrorists by becoming a faithful Muslim; but I could be wrong.

The main speaker on the tape was identified as Azzam the American, an Islamic convert from California also known as Adam Yahiye Gadahn who is wanted by the F.B.I. for questioning.

He's been wanted by the FBI for about two years!

Check out the FBI's Gadahn page.

In the video, he was introduced by Al Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, an Egyptian.

"Deputy" al-Zawahri loves making videotapes, doesn't he?

Too bad they're always such downers.

I don't care for his "we're gonna kill you" approach -- not diplomatic at all.

The American, speaking in English, said, “To Americans and the rest of Christendom, we say either repent misguided ways and enter into the light of truth or keep your poison to yourself and suffer the consequences in this world and the next.”

That's not very tolerant, is it?

Convert to Islam or suffer the consequences.

Gee, I wonder why so many libs get upset about the term "Islamofascist." It obviously fits so well. I don't see the point in playing word games or pretending that the enemy is other than what it is.

The libs are blind or into self-deception. Either way, they're not fit to handle our national security.

He also said, “Muslims don’t need democracy to rid themselves of their homegrown despots and tyrants.”

That's an odd statement.

Which "despots and tyrants" does Gadahn mean?

The above report, appearing in The New York Times, is inadequate. It doesn't tell much about "Azzam the American."

Here is more detailed information on the video and Gadahn, from CBS News:

The 41-minute video, posted on an Islamic militant Web site, had footage of al-Zawahri and a man the video identified as Adam Yehiye Gadahn, who has appeared in past al Qaeda videos with the nom de guerre of Azzam al-Amriki.

"To the American people and the people of the West in general ... God sent his Prophet Muhammad with guidance and the religion of truth ... and sent him as a herald," al-Zawahiri said.

Gadahn and al-Zawahiri did not appear together in the footage.

It was the second time Gadahn has appeared in the same video with al-Zawahri. In a July 7 video marking the one-year anniversary of bombings against the London transit system, Gadahn said no Muslim should "shed tears" for Westerners killed by al Qaeda attacks.

"We invite all Americans and unbelievers to Islam," Gadahn said in Saturday's video, dressed in a white robe and turban with a long, thick black beard and a computer terminal in the background.

Gadahn, a 28-year-old American from California who converted to Islam, is wanted by the FBI in connection with possible terrorist threats against the United States.

In May 2004, the U.S. government announced that Gadahn was suspected of attending an al Qaeda training camp and working as a translator for the group. Investigators have said that Gadahn, who grew up on a farm in California, converted to Islam as a teen and moved to Pakistan.

It would be the first time Gadahn has appeared in a video released by al Qaeda. He is believed to be a masked figure who appeared in two previous videos not officially from al Qaeda, given to the American television network ABC in Pakistan in 2004 and a few days before Sept. 11, 2005.

In 2004, Gadahn's father, Philip, said that he was baffled by the allegation his son was an al Qaeda operative, saying he has spoken to his son only occasionally in recent years but still can't imagine that he would be involved with a terrorist network.

I guess Philip Gadahn doesn't know his son very well. They need to spend some quality time together.



Maybe after watching the video, it will be just a little easier for Gadahn's father to imagine his boy Adam being involved with a terrorist network. Philip Gadahn didn't raise a very patriotic kid.

Gadahn spoke for much of the video released Saturday, saying he wanted to correct the incorrect image Americans have of Islam.

He described the West as "the civilization which enslaved Africa, slaughtered native Americans, fired bombs at ... Tokyo and (the Iraqi city of) Fallujah and nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Now that sounds like typical libspeak. You can hear that sort of stuff in UW-Madison classrooms and on campuses across the country on any given day.

Once again, terrorists sound like liberals.

He said it shows more concern for archaeological sites, like statues of Bhudda destroyed by Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers, "than it shows of the people of Afghanistan and Iraq."

Right.

That's why our troops left their families and homes to serve our country, shedding their blood to free Afghanis from the oppression of the Taliban and Iraqis from the tyrant Saddam Hussein.

He said "ignorance" of Islam "causes the people of the West to rapturously applaud when Israel perpetrates wholesale slaughter of Muslims in Lebanon and Palestine and leads them to give their consent to the atrocities that governments commit in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the Muslim world."

Of course, that's absurd.

Gadahn belongs in Gitmo, or maybe he should skip the island paradise and go straight to being tried for treason.

The Associated Press reports that Gadahn played a "Tokyo Rose" role on the video.

Saturday's video — and the length of Gadahn's speech — suggested al-Qaida has found in him someone it believes can communicate effectively with Americans.

Appearing days before the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S., Gadahn spoke for nearly the entire video, wearing a white robe and a white turban, sitting in front of a desk with a computer and Islamic religious books in a room with a white wall.

The video included no direct threats of terror attacks.

Gadahn delivered a lecture on Islam and the "errors" in Christianity and Judaism. He also said the United States is losing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and told U.S. soldiers they are fighting President Bush's "crusades."

"Instead of killing yourself for Bush ... why not surrender to the truth (of Islam), escape from the unbelieving army and join the winning side. Time is running out so make the right choice before it's too late," he said.

..."To the American people and the people of the West in general ... God sent his Prophet Muhammad with guidance and the religion of truth ... and sent him as a herald," he said.

..."You know that if you die as an unbeliever in battle against the Muslims you're going straight to Hell without passing 'Go,'" Gadahn said on the video, addressing American soldiers. "You know you're considered by Bush and his bunch of warmongers as nothing more than expendable cannon fodder ... You know they couldn't care less about your safety and well-being."

"We send a special invitation (to convert to Islam) to all of you fighting Bush's crusader pipe dream in Afghanistan, Iraq and wherever else 'W' has sent you to die. You know the war can't be won," he said, using Bush's nickname.

Gadahn also urged other Americans to convert to Islam.

"It is time for the unbelievers to discard these incoherent and illogical beliefs," he said. "Isn't it the time for the Christians, Jews, Buddhists and atheists to cast off the cloak of the spiritual darkness which enshrouds them and emerge into the light of Islam?"

Gadahn and al-Zawahri appeared in separate parts of the video, which was released by al-Qaida's production wing, As-Sahab. Gadahn spoke with his face uncovered, resembling FBI photos, with his name and nom de guerre — "Azzam the American" — written in titles in Arabic and English next to him. Arabic subtitles translated his comments.

Besides the July 7 video, Gadahn is believed to be a masked figure who appeared in two previous videos not officially from al-Qaida, one given to ABC television in 2004 and another a few days before the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the 2005 tape, the speaker — who had black cloth draped over his face, leaving only his eyes visible — threatened new terror attacks in Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia. The 2004 tape praised the Sept. 11 attacks and said a new wave of attacks could come at any moment.

Much of Gadahn's latest speech was dedicated to urging Americans to convert to Islam, and he dotted it with fluently recited Arabic verses from the Quran and stories from Islamic history.

He denounced Christianity as a "hollow shell of a religion, whose followers cling to an empty faith and a false conviction in their own salvation."

"It is time for the unbelievers to discard these incoherent and illogical beliefs," he said. "We invite all Americans and other unbelievers to Islam, wherever they are."

Who knows what this video means?

Is it a signal to terrorists? Does it contain instructions for them?

At face value, it shows that Islamofascists want nothing less than the complete submission of non-Muslims.

I don't get why anyone would be an apologist for these people, especially Muslims.

Notice that CAIR hasn't released a statement on this new video.
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Michelle Malkin has a post from October 27, 2004 that has some information on Adam Gadahn.