Islamic militant websites have posted an audio message apparently recorded by Osama bin Laden a week before Navy SEALs burst into his Pakistan hideout and killed him. In the 12-minute recording, a man that al Qaeda has identified as bin Laden praises the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, and encourages others in neighboring countries to rise up against their rulers. The posthumous message, if authenticated, would mark the first public statement by al Qaeda on this year's Arab Spring revolts. Is the terror group's attempt to coopt the uprisings a smart move?
No, this pathetic recording will backfire: Al Qaeda is only broadcasting to the world "just how out of touch bin Laden was with the current political trends taking root throughout the Arab world," says Con Coughlin in Britain's Telegraph. Nobody thinks these protests are any kind of jihad. Bin Laden's lieutenants would "have been better advised not to release the tape." Instead of serving as a rallying cry to the faithful, "it makes bin Laden sound like yesterday's man. Which, of course, he is."
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