Osama preaches martyrdom for others

CNN:

Osama bin Laden stresses the importance of martyrdom for Muslim causes in a videotape that purportedly contains a 50-second message from the al Qaeda leader.

The 40-minute videotape, whose audio was being translated from Arabic by CNN, was intercepted before it was to appear on several Islamist Web sites known for carrying statements from al Qaeda and other radical groups.

The videotape was made in the last four weeks, but the clips appear to be old, said Octavia Nasr, CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs. There is no indication of where it was shot, and CNN cannot verify its authenticity.

Bin Laden, with a body guard standing directly behind him, is looking down slightly in the video, appearing to address an audience below, which is unseen.

He says that the Prophet Mohammed wanted to be a martyr, and that is a worthy goal for every Muslim.

"So be alert, be wise and think. What is this status that the best of mankind wished for himself? He wished to be a martyr. He himself said, 'By him in whose hands my life is! I would love to attack and be martyred, then attack again and be martyred, then attack again and be martyred.'

"So this whole broad life is summarized by him who was inspired by God, the Lord of the heavens and earth, praised and exalted is he. This glorious prophet who was inspired by God summarized this entire life by these words. He wished upon himself this status. Happy is the one who was chosen by God as a martyr."

...

So what is stopping you? Come out of your cave and show yourself and martyrdom can be had immediately, or at least as long as it takes to get an armed Predator to unrack a Hellfire missile and send Osama some place other than Paradise.

These cowardly videos demonstrate how much weaker al Qaeda is now. Before 9-11 Osama would occasionally meet with news people for interviews, now he is too scared to hold such meetings, much less announce a news briefing and take questions from anyone who shows up. The al Qaeda PR offensive may be tied to a real offensive that has gotten off to a fizzle. I suspect that these guys had hoped to be riding on the wave of bombings from the UK and the one in Yemen. The friction of warfare has made that effort not so hot and the PR also seems to lack some sizzle.

Gateway Pundit says the tape is a rerun.