AL-ZAWHARI INSULTA OBAMA

November 19, 2008, 12:40 pm
Al Qaeda Leader Weighs In on Obama, Insultingly

"Ayman al-Zawahri, the reputed second-in-command of Al Qaeda, has apparently responded to the election victory of President-elect Barack Obama in a vitriol-laden video message posted on Web forums on Wednesday.
In it, Mr. Zawahri says Mr. Obama’s election was an admission by the American people of defeat in Iraq (because of Mr. Obama’s stated desire for hastened withdrawal from the country) and he refers to Mr. Obama as a “house negro” for supporting the policies of the West.
“The American people, by electing Obama, declared its anxiety and apprehension about the future towards which the policy of the likes of Bush is leading it, and so it decided to support someone calling for withdrawal from Iraq,” Mr. Zawahri is heard saying in the 11-minute, 23-second video, in Arabic with English subtitles, according to a transcript provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist Web sites.
If the message, entitled “The Departure of Bush and Arrival of Obama,” proves to be authentic, it would be the first acknowledgment by Al Qaeda of Mr. Obama’s election victory and the first time it has addressed the president-elect.
Mr. Zawahri is heard in the video criticizing Mr. Obama for, he says, betraying his Muslim origins, and says Mr. Obama’s plans for shifting American troops from Iraq to bolster force levels in Afghanistan were “destined for failure before it was born.”
“And be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them,” he adds, in fairly evocative terms.
SITE said the video was produced by as-Sahab, the multimedia arm of al-Qaeda.
It does not include video footage of Mr. Zawahri; rather, he is seen in a still image, with a bookcase as a backdrop, and is heard speaking between images of Mr. Obama standing at the Western Wall in Jerusalem and Malcolm X kneeling in prayer. His voice is heard speaking calmly and steadily.
The video also includes clips of Malcolm X giving a speech, and Mr. Zawahri contrasts Mr. Obama with Malcolm X: “You represent the direct opposite of honorable black Americans like Malik al-Shabazz, or Malcolm X (may Allah have mercy on him),” Mr. Zawahri says, according to the transcript:
You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America. And in you and in Colin Powell, Rice and your likes, the words of Malcolm X (may Allah have mercy on him) concerning ‘House Negroes’ are confirmed.
The references to Malcolm X are a propaganda tactic that Al Qaeda has used before, according to Adam Raisman, an analyst at SITE. In a speech released in 2007, Mr. Zawahri included quotations and film clips of Malcolm X, apparently hoping “to court minorities,” Mr. Raisman said.
Mr. Zawahri has also used the derogatory term “house negro,” meaning an obeisant slave, in a 2007 speech, when he criticized other prominent African Americans."