On Zawahiri

His little racist rant is making the news today. Guess he's one dude who didn't breathe a sigh of relief.

It's tempting to mock this as instant proof Obama's election didn't shower sweetness and light on America's 'trashed' reputation (because Bush dared to fight back against terrorism) but it cannot be done honestly because Zawahiri is only one man. He doesn't even represent the entirety of the America-hating terrorists. Still, his taunt is interesting for many reasons.

First of all, it's maddening. How dare this turd essentially call the new president a "house n*gger" (and let's be frank, House "Negro" was the politically correct translation used by the press--everyone knows what he meant). Perhaps it's a sign of desperation that Mr. Z feels the need to appeal to the racist leanings of his Arab supporters so soon. Clearly he's afraid of the "Obama effect" on the Ummah and is trying to nip it in the bud by keeping all the jihadies on message, knowing his own limitations in the charisma department:

"You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America. And so you promised to back Israel, and you threatened to strike the tribal regions in Pakistan, and to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, in order for the crimes of the American crusade in it to continue," the message said.

Guess there's no mystery left as to whether brother Hussein will be called an apostate. But Z is a target multi-tasker. Not only is Obama a sell-out to his own race and Islam but greedy Americans are getting their just desserts for fighting the war and for being capitalists, while the Farrakhan wing was so blind they forgot about Malcolm X. Ouch.

Is pissing off the entire black race the new AQ strategy? Actually it sounds more like Zawahiri's goal was to reunite America, although that clearly was not his intent. But hey, he's no bin Laden. Speaking of which, CNN's Peter Bergen asked the seminal question--where is the big guy? He lists several plausible reasons except the prominent one on every reader's mind--tango uniform.

But what if UBL is dead?

Let's ponder the power. Say a few high-level Democrats were to get access to top secret intel that said Osama was killed at Tora Bora. They could release it and claim that Bush kept it quiet to go after Saddam's oil, producing a circus-like inquisition in America. Meanwhile AQ would be left to explain why they kept his horribleness alive all those years (to fend off embarrassment and stimulate recruiting), which wouldn't look very noble. Two birds with one stone.

There's no question Obama, like Clinton before him, wants nothing to do with military engagements of any kind, anywhere. Such a revelation would throw momentum towards a total withdrawal from all theaters to focus on the social and financial issues at home, just as Bill Ayers and his minions would prefer. The concept of a GWoT would be overturned for the real threat--global warming. And everyhing would be fine as long as AQ didn't pull off anymore attacks.

Such a scenario is fraught with peril though, such as perhaps triggering a desperation attack by AQ amidst a divisive political brouhaha here while a financial crisis rages. Obama, being a careful man, would probably pass.