NR: "We see Osama touching
upon one of the key tenets of his classic, old-school
brand of al Qaeda fighting philosophy."
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Length: 2:22
LARGE (33.5 MB)
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Two hours after the "Breaking News" of the OBL
tape, Michael is back to discuss it again with Don
Lemon, and although they mostly cover the same
issues, this time Michael is able to make the
salient points.
DON LEMON:
Osama bin Laden is supposedly back on the Internet
with a new message. The al Qaeda leader's
condemnation towards Israel is posted on an Islamic
Web site. Bin Laden calls Israel's military
operations in Gaza a, quote, "holocaust."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through
translator): The holocaust of Gaza in the midst of
this long siege is an important and historic event,
an articulate tragedy which affirms the need for
detachment of the Muslims from the hypocrites. It is
not right that our condition after what happened in
Gaza be like our condition prior to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: CNN international correspondent Michael Ware
joins us now.
Michael, the al Qaeda leader's condemnation towards
Israel is posted on an Islamic Web site.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes,
indeed, it has been, Don. And this is the second time
that we've heard from Osama bin Laden this year, the
last time being in January, of course.
Look, let's face it. In the world of militant Islam,
an attack on Israel clearly is a no-brainer. So, this
really isn't a new development in terms of al Qaeda
philosophy or its targets for attack. I mean, this is
a very common current in the Middle East.
However, what we do see is the fact that firstly,
Osama's made the statement. Just that alone in itself
reminds us that he's still out there. Also, the al
Qaeda media production unit, As-Sahab been has also
proven its ongoing sophistication by releasing this
statement with transcripts in English and Arabic, and
English subtitles. So, it's not like we at the west
have to subtitle because al Qaeda has done it for us.
So, obviously, there's a message yet again to the
west.
And finally, we see Osama touching upon one of the
key tenets of his classic old- school brand of al
Qaeda fighting philosophy, and that's the near enemy.
Attacking these Arab governments that seem to either
collude with the west or by their acquiescence allow
the west and particularly Israel to operate as they
do. So, he's called for attacks on, you know, the
system within Egypt and he's also specifically called
for further attacks in Iraq that could hope to spread
to Jordan.
LEMON: All right. CNN International Correspondent
Michael Ware -- Michael, thank you.
WARE: Thanks, Don.