Al-Qaeda deputy sets out strategy

First we have to find A LOT of caves...

Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman Zawahiri has urged Muslims to unite behind the movement's global jihad - and called for the violent overthrow of the governments of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

This is the perfect example for reaching beyond your means. Al-qaeda as a whole suffers from delusions of grandeur, which I predict, will be their downfall. Well, that and missiles, lots and lots of missiles aimed at mud huts.

Zawahiri's new video, an hour and a half long, has been posted on the internet. It is not clear when it was recorded.

Jeez, I can barely sit through a two-hour movie that has computer-generated special effects and visually spectacular action sequences let alone some nutcase sitting in front of a cloth background and a rifle going on and on in a language I can't understand for over an hour. Maybe if al-qaeda threw in a car chase or some soft-core porn I'd be more likely to pay attention. How about a sword fight or something?

In a wide-ranging review of developments in the Muslim world, Zawahiri lays great stress on the central role of Iraq.

I actually really wonder if al-qaeda truly sees Iraq as the "lost cause" that the western world sees it as. I mean, that place is so fucked up I can't imagine anyone looking at it and thinking it's going well for anyone.

Zawahiri underlines the need for unity in Iraq - an implicit acknowledgement that splits have opened up in Sunni ranks.

Weird, that's exactly what Bush calls for.