AL QAEDA SPEAKS – AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  Adam Gadahn, the Tokyo Rose of Al Qaeda, has made a statement on behalf of Al Qaeda, and it should be taken seriously.  We have been lulled to sleep by the fact that 9-11 occurred almost nine years ago, but it's a false sleep:

CAIRO – Al-Qaida's U.S.-born spokesman warned President Barack Obama Sunday that the militant group may launch new attacks that would kill more Americans than previous ones.

In a taunting, 24 minute message that dwelled on Obama's setbacks, including the loss of Massachusetts Senate seat to the Republicans, Adam Gadahn set out al-Qaida's conditions for peace with the U.S., including cutting support for Israel and withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Gadahn said that if you compared the number of dead Muslims "with the relatively small number of Americans we have killed so far, it becomes crystal-clear that we haven't even begun to even the score," he said, dressed in a white robe and turban.

"That's why next time, we might not show the restraint and self-control we have shown up until now," he said. Even if al-Qaida was defeated, "hundreds of millions of Muslims" would still fight the U.S., he added.

Al-Qaida offered the same conditions for an end to hostilities to then President George W. Bush in 2007, including the release of all Muslim prisoners and cutting off aid to Middle East governments.

Gadahn's statement was notable for its mocking tone, in which he described Obama as "a devious, evasive and serpentine American president with a Muslim name," and seemed to delight in his setbacks.

COMMENT:  The mocking tone can be attributed, at least in part, to Obama's weak image.  It is appalling to see an American president laughed at.  We haven't had the experience since Jimmah Carter melted away before our eyes.

I would never underestimate threats like this.  Al Qaeda does not have to pull off another 9-11 to make its presence felt.  The terror attack in Mumbai, India, which centered on the takeover of a major hotel, had an enormous impact, and was relatively simple. 

June 21, 2010