It is good to hear from the Osama bin Laden group once in a blue moon, just to realise how uncivilised, out of touch and murderous they really are. That was the inescapable conclusion left by an ill-fated experiment by al-Qaeda which tried to adapt to the rapid-fire atmosphere of the internet.
The idea was that the group's official ideologue, Egyptian doctor Ayman al-Zawahri would take questions from internet forums. He hasn't managed that, but his first video taping of rehearsed answers to selected questions was shocking enough. For example, consider his claim that in all its attacks, through the years and across continents, no innocent person has been harmed.
The reasoning is even more chilling. All those killed in al-Qaeda operations, Dr Zawahri said, are murdered "out of necessity". He specifically used the United Nations as an example. The world body is an enemy of Islam and all Muslims, and this justifies - necessitates - bombing and other attacks against the UN. It was clear that the internet question about the death of innocents enraged Dr Zawahri. No innocent people ever have been killed in Iraq, Morocco or Algeria, he ranted.
It was something less than a stellar performance by the mouthpiece of al-Qaeda in many ways. Many of his answers, like the total denial of the deaths of innocents, rambled on. It was instructive that Mr bin Laden's No. 2 is unable to answer such a sensitive question in a plausible manner.
Equally appalling was Dr Zawahri's fumbling attempts at providing religious justification for terrorism. Al-Qaeda, said the medical doctor, only kills "crusaders and Jews" or, in the Islamic Maghreb, "unbelievers". Of course the holy Koran in no way justifies such murders. Dr Zawahri may have been raised as a Muslim, but he clearly has no credentials as a cleric.
In a way, the prepared answers illustrated what some call the cyber-gap. Dr Zawahri, an old man, was no match for those, mostly younger, who are at home in the discussion forums of the web. Al-Qaeda has made efficient use of the internet at times for recruiting and for spreading propaganda. But by refusing to take questions in an online setting, Dr Zawahri largely destroyed the purpose of the al-Qaeda experiment.
While it is good to see al-Qaeda leaders and supporters stumble, the main gang and its subsidiaries pose many threats. Misled and angry Thais represent one of such threats.
Just about the time Dr Zawahri was making the absurd claim that innocents never die at terrorist hands, new figures from the Thai Health Promotion Foundation exposed the lie. The Foundation investigated the deaths of 2,757 Thais killed in southern violence in the four years to last Dec 31. It found 1,820, or two-thirds of those killed, were innocent bystanders.
Dr Zawahri and his loyalists influence the gangs of the Thai South. They have imported horrific violence such as beheadings, explosives and car bombs. The southern gangs also use warped religious messages to justify their murders. Dr Zawahri's feeble performance should cause supporters to wonder why he took so long to prepare answers that were so weak. They should also warn the world, including Thailand, about the cruelty and ruthlessness of the unreasonable enemy which threatens everyone. source - Bangkok Post