CAIRO, Egypt, Sept. 19, 2008
A Week Late, Al Qaeda Releases 9/11 Video
Threatens New Attacks In Afghanistan; Dismisses Iraq Setbacks
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(AP / CBS)
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The delay in release, apparently due to problems in the militant Web sites where al Qaeda posts its videos, raised questions among counterterror specialists over whether the terror network's long powerful propaganda machine was faltering.
The delay deflated what is usually a media splash for al Qaeda. In previous years, the group has released a string of videos for the 9-11 anniversary, featuring top leaders trumpeting their victories. Osama bin Laden spoke in one of the anniversary videos last year, making his first appearance in nearly three years.
Al Qaeda promised a similar event this year, announcing in a Sept. 8 Web advertisement that it would release a video that would bring joy to its followers. It sought to build drama by promising a surprise speaker, showing him in silhouette with a question mark over his face.
But soon after, the Islamic militant Web forums where al Qaeda traditionally posts such videos went down and have remained closed. The reason is not known.
The 90-minute video, entitled "The Results of Seven Years of Crusades," was finally released Friday, according to two U.S. groups that monitor militant messages. It featured speeches by bin Laden's top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri and other top figures in the terror network, as well as the final testament of Ahmed al-Ghamdi, one of the hijackers in the 9-11 attacks, who was apparently the "surprise" speaker, SITE Intelligence and IntelCenter said.
In the video, al Qaeda's top commander in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed, said the "mujahedeen (holy warriors) are on the increase day after day" in that country.
"We inform the forces of the Cross and their apostate agents that the mujahedeen's policy in the coming stage, Allah permitting, is going to be more major, large-scale attacks," he said, according to a transcript by SITE.
Elsewhere in the video, a leading al Qaeda cleric, known as Sheik Attiyatullah, dismissed claims that the U.S. and Iraqi military were defeating the terror group's branch in Iraq. "The Americans have not won nor has their security plan succeeded," he said.
He acknowledged a "decline in the number of operations (by mujahedeen) and decline in the number of losses in the ranks of the Americans," but said, "this is something natural, as everything has its ups and downs, and every stage has its own circumstances."
"The Americans are without a doubt going to pull out of Iraq dragging their tails in defeat," he said. "The jihad and mujahedeen are here to stay and will keep going, with Allah's help. It requires only a little patience."
Violence has dramatically dropped in Iraq this year. U.S. commanders say the decline is in part due to setbacks to al Qaeda and the Sunni Muslim-led insurgency, particularly because of the surge in U.S. forces and the growth of anti-al Qaeda Sunni tribal fighters known as "Awakening Councils." Attiyatullah dismissed the Awakening Councils as "projects of treason."
Meanwhile, in a raid targeting al Qaeda in Iraq Friday, U.S. troops backed by an airstrike killed seven Iraqis, including three women, the military said.
The documentary-style video reviewed what it called progress for al Qaeda on several other fronts, including Somalia and North Africa. Al-Zawahri urged Muslims not to neglect fighting the "domestic enemy," referring to Arab governments, which he denounced as corrupt. "We face a crusade aided by the apostate agents who rule us, and this Crusade targets our religion, morals, land and treasure as well as our very existence," he said.
But the problems in releasing al Qaeda's 9-11 anniversary video, usually the most eagerly awaited among sympathizers, raised eyebrows.
"The late timing is certainly curious since they made such a big deal of the announcement," said Evan F. Kohlman, director of Globalterroralert.com, a private terrorism research group.
"They made it seem this was something big but in the end it turned out to be all bark and no bite," he told The Associated Press. "They could be having problems in the production line."
Terror analysts have long seen al Qaeda's media arm, Al-Sahab, as a powerful tool for rallying the network's followers and sympathizers, churning out videos and audiotapes even though the top leadership is in hiding in the mountainous border regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The videos have grown in technical sophistication, featuring computer animations and clips from international television media. Bin Laden has issued three audiotapes this year, the most recent in May.
David Heyman, from Washington-based the Center for Strategic and International Studies, pointed to recent Pakistani sweeps in the border region. "It's possible some of those (personnel or facilities) associated with video production have been damaged or destroyed."
Bruce Hoffman, a terror expert at the RAND Corporation, said he was surprised by the delay. "It could be because there has been so much torment in Pakistan and general instability, it has made it more difficult for Al-Sahab to deliver their product," he said.
"The more nefarious reason could be that they have bigger fish to fry, they are planning something bigger, and they are concentrating on other stuff," Hoffman said.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 27 CommentsBefore the media starts feeding lies to you, the group claiming responsibility is not Al Qaeda, nor are there any credible links to that group, which may be related to the group that bombed a hotel in New Delhi just recently.
Our poor CIA must be working overtime on these ''Al Qaeda videos''!!!
Nice try, boys....
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Posted by shameonbush at 03:10 AM : Sep 20, 2008
This poster has their head in the sand. Al Qaeda denies they had anything to do with 9/11? Are you kidding? Bragging about it and pictures showing their enjoyment of the destruction were some of the videos they showed in the beginning. This very article states that they closed their message with a message from one of the hijackers on the planes, a proud martyr.
Also, I hope the people of Iraq are listening, Al Qaeda wants back in after we leave. For what purpose if the U.S. is out? To continue terrorizing the people of Iraq in their own country? I hope the Iraqies kick their b utts out.
They are both just too ignorant to know they are losing profoundly.
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Posted by OneAmerican6
The US is now morally and financially bankrupt, broadley hated by much of the world. Al Qaeda is more popular than Bush, or should I say less unpopular. The greatest ignorance this planet has seen for a long time, lies with the actions of the current US administration, and the support they have been given by such an ignorant population.
!!!!!!!!!!
If he%u2019s 100% disabled, perhaps he shouldn%u2019t be, ah, president?
1. WAR HERO/PATRIOT?
In his own book, McCain states he began collaborating after 4 days. It was not %u201Cname, rank and serial number ------or kill me,%u201D as specified by the military code of conduct.
2. ON REMAINING A POW
It was mandated by military law that all prisoners were to refuse early release. McCain was no exception here. He could have faced courts martial had he done so.
3. EXPERIENCE?
General Wesley Clark, ret. has stated: %u201CThe truth is that %u2026. McCain%u2019s largely untested and untried. He%u2019s never been responsible for policy formulation. He%u2019s never had leadership in a crisis, or in anything larger than his own aircraft carrier.%u201D
4. TEMPERMENT, MATURITY, FITNESS?
%u201CBomb, bomb, bomb Iran%u201D sound presidential? Graduated near bottom of NA class. Described tensions on the %u201CIraq/Pakistan border.%u201D Called wife Cindy a c*nt in public.
5. MAVERICK?
Has voted 90% of the time with presidork. (Is he for or against off shore drilling this week?) McCain, the political weather vane.
Posted by negrovote-
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They apparently don%u2019t discriminate against morons, though. Please, DO KEEP POSTING, you bigoted piece of sh*t. It%u2019s entertaining to see you racist MFkrs get upset about a person of color.
Here%u2019s today%u2019s dictionary exercise: Look up the word, %u201Cxenophobe.%u201D
Barack Hussein Obama wrote in his book that he would stand with the muslims.
Obama voted for s*x education for kindergarten.
When will Obama disclose campaign donations from N.A.M.B.L.A.?
(CBS practices censorship for news critical of Obama)
Posted by negrovote- at 12:32 AM : Sep 20, 2008
Osomo Oboma did not write this: Barack Hussein Obama wrote in his book that he would stand with the muslims.
He was talking to a bunch of Muslim people here in the United States of America. And he said that he would be with them if the Political winds shifted in the wrong direction.
I WILL NOT VOTE FOR THE MAN IN NOVEMBER, but things need to be said in a truthful way.
I think maybe their America analyst told them to wait until after the fist dude testified at the troopergate hearing.
Do these people actually work for the GOP? Every time there is an election, these guys come out and say they are going to attack the U.S. some time in the future, so you better vote GOP. If Al Qaeda really wanted to hoodwink us (their enemy) they''d say, ''we have know intentions of attacking the U.S.. We''ve received billions in payoff money by the U.S. government (CIA) to put out bogus reports of future attacks, all for political reasons by the United States republican party.'' Wouldn''t a video like that encourage their enemies citizens to look at voting in a government that is skeptical of the party that always wants to be at war with them? Isn''t that what a misinformation war, like the GOP are using with the republican base to attack middle class Americans, accomplishes?
Do you think a trillion dollars just disappears? It just move from one person to another. This corporate bailout assumes this $1million,million just disappeared and happily just handed the bill to Americans to repay. How many times have Bush and McCain come out in the past year alone and said the economy is doing great, or it''s just a little slow down? The country was almost in an economic collapse equivelant to that of the great depression.
The republican base are the unknowing resistance to the advancement of man kind and civil rights. Ignorant traitors, hoodwinked in the war on tax payer Joe by the oligarchy.
Keep on buying Brother, I am with you....
What idiot believes otherwise?
Posted by smurfcrusher at 09:09 PM : Sep 19, 2008
YOU SOUND LIKE THE IDIOT TO ME. WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO BAD MOUTH A MAN THAT IS 100% DISABLED?
YOU SOUND LIKE A CRY-BABY LIBERAL TO ME..LIKE THE MAN SAYS, GET THE H.E.L.L. OUT OF THE UNITES STATES AND GO TO FRANCE.
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