Happy Xmas, Ayman
In this season of annual round-ups, Monika Maslikowski’s review of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s 2008 does us all a useful service with a synopsis of the great man’s messages to the world this past twelve months.
For Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri’s communication strategy, its been a year full of ups and downs. Individually, the mishaps seem like minor blips in an otherwise burgeoning online presence, but when combined, they could point to Zawahiri’s diminishing abilities as a skilled communicator and principal figure of al-Qaeda’s online media strategy.
A mixed bag indeed, as Maslikowski concludes. It’s difficult to establish metrics for the success of AQ-core’s comms strategy but Zawahiri does seem to be missing more buttons than he hits. Perhaps the YouTube generation is getting tired of his SPECTRE-ish pronouncements, hence AZ’s move towards promoting the ‘unarmed jihad’ [Ed.- shurely shome mishtake?].
I dunno. I don’t follow the Doctor’s messages nearly as closely as I used to. It’s like he, well, just isn’t speaking to me anymore. Back in the good old days he really used to scare me, and I’d hide behind the sofa like I do with Davros. Now I just yawn and switch over to Strictly Jihad On Ice in The Jungle.
What strikes me most about Zawahiri’s endless pronouncements, is that we have seen none whatsoever from OBL. I also wonder about how many messages to units around the world are actually buried in these pronouncements – I am not such a keen observer of them myself, but if they are intended to send coded messages out, then I suppose we should be particularly scared as there are so many of them spouting forth suggesting potential armies of sleepers.
Raff,
The OBL thing is indeed interesting. As for the rest, are you serious? I mean that in the best possible way, too. If the ummah is receiving coded messages from AZ via his global broadcasts, why have none of the sharper commentators picked up on them? Passive sleeper cells mobilised by codewords from the ether. I don’t reckon. Or are you winding me up? ;-)
Oops. Apparently “;-)” is trademarked now.
well, i have heard reports that agency people do look out for coded references to certain Quarnic references. this is not me being paranoid, i have heard it from v good sources. apparently, for example, the AZ and Adam Gadahn double whammy earlier in the year contained some references that raised a few flags. An earlier example was bin Laden’s wearing of a Yemeni sword in his belt in some early appearances. Some have said this signified something or was a message to someone. I personally remain skeptical about such things as you are right, I have heard v little of it in the public domain, but i do know that serious people look out for these things…
Hmm, I’m sure many things are read into what OBL or AAZ say and how they appear. The Yemeni sword rings a bell, it’s true. I’m deeply skeptical about the significance of this though. Mind you, their messages are often so garbled and repetitious I guess it could all be codewords, strung together in the pretence of coherence.