Segments of a controversial al Qaeda video were shown on ABC today in which a man who identified himself as 'Azzam the American' warns of an impending terrorist attack in the United States. ABC aired the video today after news leaked out by Matt Drudge that the organization was holding the story until after Tuesday so as not to sway the election. The implication from Drudge was that any heightened terror threat would only benefit President Bush in the waning days of the close election. Surveys consistently show that the American people trust President Bush more than John Kerry on who is better equipped to handle terrorism.

While 'Azzam the American's' face is covered in the video, one prominent terrorism expert told the Jawa Report that the man on the tape was probably California native Adam Yahiye Gadahn. The FBI website lists Gadahn as a man 'being sought in connection with possible terrorist threats against the United States.' The FBI further warns Gadahn, 'SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS'.

Gadahn attended a mosque run by extreme Wahhabist, Muzammil Siddiqi, but his views became too radical even for the extreme Wahabbists running the mosque and Gadahn was expelled from the congregation.

According to Reuters:

In the portions of the tape shown by ABC, the speaker, whose face is cloaked and who has a slight accent, says he is a follower of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He denounces Americans as "guilty, guilty, guilty."

"You are as guilty as Bush and Cheney," he said.

The speaker vows new attacks worse than the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. "After decades of American tyranny and oppression now it's your turn to die. Allah willing, the streets of America shall run red with blood matching drop for drop the blood of America's victims," he said.

ABC, for it's part, claimed that it was waiting for verification on the tape's authenticity before running with the story. However, The Jawa Report was able to authenticate the video within minutes of learning of the story, but due to an server outtage, we were unable to run the story. While it was not known how serious the threats made on the tape were, the tape was authentic. According to the Northeast Intelligence Network the tape was distributed by the media arm of the al Qaeda network, al Sahab Enterprises.

While the Mainstream Media continues to play up stories which might be damaging to the Bush reelection, they choose to suppress or ignore stories that would help. For instance, bad news coming out of Iraq, such as the recent slew of kidnappings or reports on missing weapons at al Qaqqa, recieve headline news. These stories are usually put into the context of the 'Is Bush losing the War in Iraq?' angle. The news of Polish hostage Teresa Borcz-Kalifa and Japanese hostage Akio Koda have both been run by the MSM within the caveat that the overwhelming majority of Poles and Japanese oppose the Iraq war. The news that eleven Iraqis were murdered by another terrorist organization was also accompanied by similar gainsaying.

Rarely does the MSM put such stories within the larger context of the Global War on Terror. Even more rare still is the MSM's willingness to address the issue of global terrorism as primarily routed in the teachings of Islam.

UPDATE: Via James Joyner I learn that Drudge is now reporting that "ABCNEWS withheld portions of an alarming new al Qaeda videotape which warns the next terror attack will dwarf 9/11 from the CIA when they submitted the video for analysis". Amazing if true.

Previous post on Gadahn: Ratt Lead Singer Wanted on Terrorism Charges

Posted by: Rusty at 09:31 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 642 words, total size 5 kb.