Furthermore: [Our goal is] "to liberate every land that used to be a territory of Islam, from Spain to Iraq." Means it includes Spain, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Greece, all of the Balkans, Bulgaria, Rumania, most of Hungary, and possibly, as well, that part of France that extends all the way up to the furthest point of Muslim conquest, outside Poitiers. (1)
Al Qaeda, he said, sees "all the world as a battlefield open in front of us," and the war against Israel will not end with "cease-fires or agreements." In keeping with the standard jihadist call, al-Zawahiri urged Muslims everywhere to combat the "Zionist-Crusader" war.
Al-Zawahiri speaks the truth when he says al Qaeda cannot sit idle in the wake of the events in the Levant -- but not necessarily for the reasons he outlines. Rather, the global jihadist movement, which sees itself as the fighting vanguard of the Muslim world, cannot allow Shiite militant Islamists to claim the leadership of the Arab/Muslim conflict with Israel. Hence, al Qaeda cannot avoid jumping into the fray. From the few details that have emerged regarding the contents of the tape thus far, it would appear that al-Zawahiri has avoided the Shiite-Sunni sectarian fault line and kept the focus of the message on trying to galvanize the Muslim masses in the wake of the Lebanese crisis.
The jihadists also are trying to take advantage of the discord this conflict has created in the Arab world. The masses are outraged at the Israeli actions in Lebanon, while the regimes are only too happy to see the Israelis weakening Iran and its proxy. Al-Zawahiri says, "My fellow Muslims, it is obvious that Arab and Islamic governments are not only impotent but also complicit ... and you are alone on the battlefield. Rely on God and fight your enemies ... make yourselves martyrs." But without sufficient resources on the ground in the Levant or even in the Middle East as a whole (with the exception of Iraq), al Qaeda will be unable to extract political capital from the ongoing war in Lebanon.
What can be
expected, however, is an attempt to attack a U.S. or Israeli interest somewhere
in the Muslim world, or even in Europe, where al Qaeda maintains assets
that can be put into operation. Beyond that, al Qaeda prime seems to be
better at perfecting the quality of the videotapes it has been issuing
since the destruction of its global headquarters in Afghanistan in late
2001.
1) according to Islam, not "extremist" Islam, not an Islam that "has been hijacked," but Islam as it is, was, and will be, the entire world is divided into two parts: Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb, the Domain or House of Islam, and the Domain or House of War. The Domain, or House, of War is that part of the world where Infidels still live, unsubmissive to Islam. It is the duty of all Muslims, a duty sometimes individual in nature and sometimes collective, to strive, or "struggle," for the final victory of Islam, so that all obstacles to its dominance are removed everywhere, and everywhere Muslims rule. This is not a figmment of some colonialist, neocolonialist, Orientalist imagination. It is exactly what anyone -- Believer or Infidel -- can find clearly spelled out in the canonical texts of Islam, and amply confirmed by the 12350 year history of Jihad conquest and subjugation of non-Muslims, all kinds of non-Muslims, living in all kinds of places. This evidence can not be denied, can not be avoided or evaded. See our major case study:
