Tape Shows Al Qaeda Threatened By Obama: Experts

National Security Network reports on the upshot of the tape in which No. 2 Al Qaeda Ayman al-Zawarhri calls Barack Obama a "house negro":

Experts agree that the release of a new tape by Al Qaeda's second in command Ayman al-Zawahri indicates that Al Qaeda feels threatened and is on its heels after Obama's resounding victory. President-elect Obama's diverse background, along with his pledge to reverse many of the policies and approaches of the Bush administration on issues such as detentions at Guantanamo, torture and the war in Iraq has served to dramatically improve America's image, especially in the Muslim world.

Counter-terrorism expert Richard Clarke explained, "Most of all, by returning to American values the world admires, Obama sets al Qaeda back enormously in the battle of ideas, the ideological struggle which determines whether al Qaeda will continue to have significant support in the Islamic world." Having thrived on the decline in America's world image, the impact of Obama's victory provides a direct challenge to Al Qaeda's negative depiction of the United States. Additionally, Obama's emphasis on shifting US attention from Iraq to Afghanistan represents a direct physical threat to Al Qaeda's leadership. America's improved global image and the new administration's focus on Afghanistan threatens Al Qaeda and has led to what experts see as a confused, racist, and off-kilter response reflective of an organization on the defensive.

Meanwhile, experts tell CNN that Obama is poised to restore America's image in the international community.

Comments

[iranter]

now that is a leap of faith.

"if you look hard enough, you will see it!"

[jonmonbuckeye]

I will not be happy until the leadership of Al Qaeda is swinging in public view from the grounds of the world trade center.

[smartalek]

Too easy on them -- it'd already be over.
I'd be happy letting each family member of one of the 3,000 play with them for a while. Bats, bricks, knives, blowtorches, AC powercords, battery acid... whatever.
Or maybe you meant "swinging in public view" by the privates, while still alive? That I could get behind.
Or am I being too mean?

[RicJustis]

Naw, your being way to soft.
good try though : )

[Baggaratz]

Great photo!

[loveobamas]

very nice photo,he is one sexy soon to be president!!!!!

[bongogirl]

He is very handsome!

[Stronger1]

I agree!!!

[edwcorey]

Which makes Bush al-Qaida's MVP for seven years running. Time to string him up.

[tbadger]

do you think Obama asked McCain how he would capture Bin Laden when they met on Monday?

[DebbieinPhx]

Ohhh, well said. That's right. McCain and McCain alone said he had specific knowledge on how to capture him.... niiice.

[Stronger1]

McCain can FIX THIS!!! Remember?

[amistad]

do you think McCain looked forward to meeting the black man who beat him soundly in the Presidental election?

[arspar183]

I think McCain looked forward to it. THE MAN IS A POW, he's faced far bigger threats to him in the past. I'm jsut speaking as a VET myself.

[iPolitics]

al Q*ida knows there building a base in Africa and Obama's election hurts them massively there

[Bibbo]

I think Obama has a great opportunity to turn things around.I have a big problem with his views on economic justice and abortion. His election has tremendous propaganda value in showing the world that America really is a country of equal opportunity for all. However if he tries to impose a socialist agenda it will be a disaster. I'm also very fearful of what will happen if he promotes abortion,gay marriage and euthanasia. I'm convinced that the abortion issue has ramifications much deeper and extensive than many realize. It's the single most important factor that's behind the violence and selfishness in our culture. It is choosing utilitarianism over compassion in our interpersonal relationships. When you say "yes" to abortion you automatically choose "self" over everybody else. All unjustified violence is then made acceptable as "right" because abortion has been redefined as a "right". Divorce and even war can be justified on the grounds that the individual has the "right" to his needs. This is utilitarianism. An act has value proportional to its effectiveness in getting what YOU want. The consequence of this act on others is not YOUR problem.

[FACINGREALIT]

How can a person tout equal opportunity in the same breath that speaks the beliefs of one group regarding abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia is more important than the other. It also perplexes me that most who are anti-abortion are for the death penalty...Go figure. Fortunately/Unfortunately - everybody is free and that provides them rights, which may or may not differ from another. When we become a nation that realizes that truth - we win. Until then, somebody is always going to feel that their beliefs is more important than another.

[EvasDaddy]

Get off the abortion, kick, slo-mo. I happen to be against abortion, but we have much bigger problems to consider at the moment; number one being our world reputation.

[idest]

You're only half-right about utilitarianism, time to go back to Philosophy 101.

utilitarianism - the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility, and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of persons.

Not to mention the fact that you cannot legislate your belief about when life begins. Its a belief. Everyone has their own. That would be like legislating what religion people should follow. Beliefs are entirely personal and subjective.

[smartalek]

Bibbo, you've made an eloquent argument, so I'll return the respect, even as I point out why the majority of Americans don't agree with your basic assumptions -- and thus why your point isn't valid for the culture as a whole.
Your argument (you'd agree) is predicated on the belief that "life begins at conception" -- so even a blastocyte (let alone foetus), is a "person," w/rights including the right to life.
Problem is, many -- probably most -- Americans just don't agree.
That's a RELIGIOUS belief, not a scientific one, and thus not one that can be definitively proven or disproven.
Your point about the utilitarian implications of abortion therefore applies only to people who buy into your religious assumptions -- nobody else.
(This is why I've never understood why the Supremes didn't legalize abortion on first-amendment grounds, instead of the "penumbra" of "privacy rights" that even some liberal scholars recognize as constitutionally shaky ground.)
I have great respect for some "pro-life" activists. (That is, the ones actually concerned with life, as opposed to controlling the sex lives of other people, especially women. It's curious how many of your friends don't seem terribly interested in supporting healh care, education, etc, for those same babies once they're born, or in providing access to contraception that would greatly reduce the need for abortions in the first place.)
Too bad they clearly lack all respect for the lives of people who don’t agree with them about when human "life" begins.

[SENATORCALLENBOWE]

A HEAD FOR A HEAD? MAKE SENSE 2 ME :)

[Myshkin57]

But wait... I thought McCain was going to win the war on terror for us.

This is just more evidence that the way to win a war on terror is not with military.

[BassMent]

al-Qaeda had a friend in GWB in two respects. First, he spent over six years dickin' around in Iraq where they weren't, allowing al-Qaeda to grow bigger and stronger in Afghanistan without having to worry about being shot at or blown up by American forces who were otherwise occupied. Second, he did such an excellent job of lowering the USA's image in the world with his lawlessness, bellicosity and foolhardy ideology that in a lot of places people were actually thinking that al-Qaeda might be right, and that maybe we got what was coming to us.

So yeah, OF COURSE they feel "threatened" by Obama. He's already got much of the world thinking positively about the USA again, which means much of the world will be thinking negatively about al-Qaeda. And they know he's not going to spend another six years dickin' around in Iraq looking for WMDs... he's going to instead focus for six months in Afghanistan, and hunt these rat bastards down.

If I were a radical Islamic terrorist, I'd be good and nervous. W was exactly what they wanted, a hyperbolically patriotic ideologue who was all bluster and no appropriate action. Obama is shaping up as a guy who can target goals and get things done. For al-Qaeda, that's gotta be an awfully scary change.

[bujeeboo]

Yeah, I can imagine the fear that Al Qaeda has in knowing that the rest of the world suddenly likes us again. This was a concept that was too complex and nuanced for Bush to ever grasp.

[Chibikim]

He's not even president yet and he has AQ crapping their pants. Go BARACK GO!

[MrsPlear]

LOL Heck Yeah! Go Barack!

[mcantwell]

Yeah, nice picture.

[pointyheadprodigy]

Wasn't he already covered under their "death to America program"? Just like you and I are. So what has changed? Damn those chickens thinking they can come home to roost.

[Chibikim]

I really love this picture. It shows his fierceness and it shows that he's not afraid to take them on. They are afraid of a president that is actually serious about doing something rather than our "lame" one who chooses to do nothing. He's a strong man.

[Stronger1]

Don't forget a Beautiful Man, Wowzaz!

[Chibikim]

MMM-HMMM ^____^

[GroveGal35]

Oh, this article says so much. Look at what this man is doing around the world just by being who he is--an honest, caring man whose only goal is to serve his country. He isn't in office yet and he's raised the image of America. Anyone who watched just glimpses of his 20 month odyssey of campaigning knew they were looking at the new face of politics, and America. I so hope the Secret Service surrounds him well.