New Bin Laden Video Released

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New Bin Laden Video Released

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A new al Qaeda video has been released, featuring old footage of Osama bin Laden speaking on Islamic martyrdom.

The footage is a few years old. Extracts from the same video shoot have been seen in previous releases.

While this is sure to prompt another flurry of speculation that bin Laden is dead, it's important to keep in mind that a martyred bin Laden is probably worth more to al Qaeda than three live ones.  When he dies, the odds are good that we'll find out about it in a hurry. 

The clip is part of a much longer video featuring other jihadist leaders, including Abu Yahya al Libbi (see also this analysis). The video features several masked terrorists speaking to the camera and images of terrorists in training. The latter material appears to be newly produced. 

For several weeks now, jihadist sites have been teasing a new bin Laden video with a banner featuring a question mark, and the phrase, "Soon, God Willing." It's unlikely this video is meant to fulfil that promise.

Today's release is the latest in a media blitz from al Qaeda, including three messages in rapid succession from Ayman Al Zawahiri and a wide assortment of other material from Al Sahab.

On a quick review, the 40-minute video is notable for the absence of "Azzam the American" (aka Adam Gadahn). Earlier this year, Azzam became Al Qaeda's de facto "official spokesman."

Generally, Gadahn narrates videos like these, but his voice has not been heard for a few weeks now. He's introduced videos from Zawahiri in the past, but was not been heard in the last few messages.  

 -- J.M. Berger