Muslim casualties: the revolting geek of mass proportions is very specific, and for a reason: the supremacist belief, enshrined in Sharia, that the life of a Muslim believer is worth more than an unbeliever.
Note also the mismatch between the generality of the article's use of "innocents" and Gadahn's actual words.
"Al Qaeda offers 'condolences' for innocent victims," from CNN, December 12:
(CNN) -- On the heels of a U.S. announcement of a massive troop surge for Afghanistan, an al Qaeda spokesman Saturday appeared to be trying to improve the group's image in the region with a new audio message in English.
Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzam the American, appeared in a 17-minute video released on Islamist online forums late Friday, offering condolences to the families of innocent people killed in al Qaeda attacks.
Gadahn said al Qaeda "have condemned and continue to condemn" all attacks by Western powers or "secular political forces."
"We express our condolences to the families of the Muslim men, women and children killed in these criminal acts and we ask Allah to have mercy on those killed and accept them as shohadaa (martyrs)," he says in the video.
"We also express the same in regard to the unintended Muslim victims of the mujahedeen's operations against the crusaders and their allies and puppets, and to the countless faceless and nameless Muslim victims of the murderous crusades" in Afghanistan, Pakistan's Waziristan regions and Swat Valley, and elsewhere, he said.
What about the intended Muslim victims? Or the unintended non-Muslim victims?
It is a rare example of al Qaeda offering condolences to the families of those killed in the group's own attacks.
The video comes nearly two weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama announced the deployment of 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, as part of a strategy to reverse the Taliban's momentum and stabilize the country's government.
Obama said he would begin sending the additional troops in early 2010, with the goal of starting to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by July 2011. The additional forces, Obama said, will help accelerate the handing over of responsibility to Afghan forces.
The video did not address the troop surge, but Gadahn had a general warning to any countries partnering with the United States in the region.
"Those who have made the foolish decision to stand with America and its allies in their losing war against Islam ... you have not only betrayed Islam and Muslims and left the fold of faith, but you have also caused the destabilization of nations and the displacement ... of thousands of weak and oppressed people," Gadahn said.
"The blood of countless Muslims is on your hands, and the security and very future of the countries you claim to defend and serve has been placed in jeopardy because your external enemies are taking advantage of your heedlessness as you fight and kill your fellow countrymen for American dollars."...
Adam sez:
""We also express the same in regard to the unintended Muslim victims of the mujahedeen's operations against the crusaders and their allies and puppets,..."
hmmmm, the mujahedeen attack and destroy a Muslim market place killing scores of Muslims...
Who were the mujahedeens intended victims...there were no Christians in the Muslim market place, nor were there any foreign troops nor were there any government troops there...
It certainly would appear that the Muslim jujhaedeens intended targets were Muslims in a Muslim marketplace...
Maybe they were not Muslim enough....Islam...feel the love?...
Crocodile tears.
Al-taqiyah.
See how the Islamists lie without blinking.
"an al Qaeda spokesman Saturday appeared to be trying to improve the group's image in the region"
Just the way sinister propagandist Nihad Awad is trying, in this country, "to improve the group's image" by making a virtue of necessity -- the necessity being, of course, that once some of the parents wanted their sons, off to Pakistan, found, and Nihad Awad had seen the 11-minute tape, and knew perfectly well that he didn't dare keep them from notifying the government, instead he pretended that all along he was determined to help what he now calls, with such transparent public-relations calculation, "our country."
You are correct. The intent is similar. CAIR and al-Qaeda have been dealing with ever more adverse press even in venues that had previously been sympathetic or neutral. CAIR has been caught too many times intimidating critics and pushing Islamic accomodations at the expense of other groups. Al-Qaeda is a failure even in its own terms, since the vast majority of victims are indsiputably Moslems. Both groups are retreating tactically. Finally, why should CAIR not encourage individuals and groups to go directly to the authorities regarding informmation concerned with terrorist activities. This is very suspicious behavior on CAIR'S part. What lesser incidents and crimes have simply been suppresseD by CAIR in the past?
President Obama could invite "Azzam the American" to the White House for beer and pork sausage.
Sorry, that would be haram!
al Qaeda is desperately trying to pull the Afghan people to their side, fighting a common enemy, the US. Their taqiyya will get them everywhere because the people, there, are so naive they'll believe them.
I saw this on CNN. The naive newscaster seemed to think this indicated that Al-Qaeda was "mellowing".
Islam needs to be exposed and shamed into submission.Muslims
should stop denying the obvious.The multiple terrorist acts
carried out by Muslims must give the impression that Islam
is synonymous with terrorism.What else are people to believe? I don,t hear reports of Jews,Christians,Hindus,
Buddhist or followers of other world religions dancing in
the streets and celebrating the deaths of others.