An exhortation to die

A video produced by As-Sahab (Al Qaeda's media wing) has surfaced, and leading off the 40-minute video is an old clip of Osama bin Laden.

At The Corner, Michael Ledeen voices what many are suspecting, that bin Laden is dead, and the best Al Qaeda can come up with is Osama reruns. Bin Laden hasn't been seen on video since 2004.

Laura Mansfield has the translation of what bin Laden said:

What is this status that the best of mankind wished for himself?

He wished to be a martyr.

He himself said ‘By Him in Whose Hands my life is! I would love to attack and be martyred, then attack again and be martyred, then attack again and be martyred.’

So this whole broad life is summarized by he who was inspired by God, the lord of the heavens and earth, praised and exalted is He.

This glorious prophet who was inspired by God summarized this entire life by these words. He wished upon himself this status. Happy is the one who was chosen by god as a martyr.

The Counterterrorism Blog says:

Osama Bin Laden quotes Muhammad based on Hadeeth Sunnah Sahih Bukhari, Book 52. Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihaad), specifically in Volume 4, Book 52, Number 54. Sahih Bukhari is a collection of sayings and deeds of Muhammad, also known as the sunnah.

(Hot Air refers to the "Bukhari translation.")

Now, the purpose of the entire video clearly seems to be singing the praises of martyrdom. Consider this:

Sunday's video, dedicated to Muslims who have left their homes to fight Jihad, included a series of animated scenes showing green fields overlaid with Arabic names written in gold, representing Arab fighters who had died in Afghanistan.
...
In another clip, a man identified as Mujahid Haidarah al-Hawn was shown sitting in front of a tree with an AK-47 paying tribute to a Syrian fighter, Osama al-Hamawi, who died in an air raid in Afghanistan.

"I lived with him for four years," said al-Hawn, who wore a black scarf to cover his face. "He used to be my emir (commander) . . . he was a brother with extreme modesty."

A photo of al-Hamawi's face, apparently taken after his death, was broadcast, showing bruises around his eye and a red gash on his forehead.

A bearded man identified as Abu Yahia al-Libi, a Libyan Al Qaeda operative in Afghanistan, appeared in the video wearing a black turban, saying the Muslim world was "offering the best of its men and sacrificing the good of its sons ... to protect its ideology."

Al-Libi escaped U.S. custody in 2005 and is believed to be behind a homicide bombing that killed 23 people outside the main U.S. base in Afghanistan during a February visit by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Mansfield adds:

The remainder of the video includes various clips showing jihadist fighters reading their final wills

Zarqawi makes an appearance in the video, and of course we know he met a glorious end.
The Blotter adds:

The tape commemorates seven men who were killed and which are termed "martyrs" in the video. As clear from their aliases, they come from Pakistan, Morocco, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia.

The video gives them the slow motion, reverent tones and music treatment.

Abu al-Yazid, the new Emir of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, appears a few times. (See my post on him here.) In a May 26 video, al-Yazid claimed "volunteers for suicide operations allegedly into the hundreds."

When al-Hawn is speaking, at one point he holds up a Pakistani 500 Rupees note, and it appears to have blood stains, perhaps the blood of al-Hamawi.

Towards the end of the video, there is footage of a suicide bombing in an attempted assassination of Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum in January 2005. You can see that video here. I'm not sure if one of the "martyrs" featured in this video is the suicider in that video clip.

So, what does it all mean? Is Al Qaeda getting a bit desperate, that they feel the need to gin up this glorification of death? And this is supposed to be just the first in a series titled "The Winds of Paradise." Is this a call for an increased tempo of suicide attacks to shock the West into capitulating, since Al Qaeda and the Taliban can't survive on the conventional battlefield?

In the wake of the violence at the Red Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan has sent troops into the Northwest tribal provinces. In his 2005 letter to Zarqawi, Zawahiri warned of the dangers of Pakistan cracking down on this areas, perhaps an indication that Al Qaeda needed this area as a sanctuary.

However, the real danger comes from the agent Pakistani army that is carrying out operations in the tribal areas looking for mujahedeen.

There have been two serious suicide attacks there lately. From Bill Roggio:

a Taliban suicide bomber struck a Pakistani Army convoy heading to Miramshah in the Taliban-infested tribal agency of the Northwest Frontier Province. Twenty-four soldiers were killed and 29 wounded,
...
In Swat, a pair of suicide bombers struck another military convoy. Sixteen were killed, including 12 Pakistani soldiers and four civilians, and 40 were wounded after the suicide team rammed their cars into a convoy near the town of Matta. In Dera Ismail Khan, a suicide bomber attacked near the main hall of the police recruitment center as about 200 recruits were being tested. Up to 20 recruits were killed and 50 wounded

This death cult cannot be appeased, except by our own deaths.

No retreat, no surrender.