Al Qaeda Tells Muslims to Avoid Planes and Skyskrapers
The BBC has reported that Al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith warned Muslims in the US and UK not to travel by plane or live in skyscrapers. The warning was broadcast over the Al Jazeera news network.
Abu Ghaith added another demand to the litany he has previously recited: now Al Qaeda wants the Western countries to stop supporting the Hindus against the Muslims in Kashmir. Kashmir is an area which India and Pakistan have been struggling to control.
Diatribes like these are losing their impact. It was important to see and understand these statements early in the crisis, so that the threats could be better understood. But, Westerners who believe in God are not infidels, and no harangue for extremists like Sulaiman Abu Ghaith will change that.
We are re-evaluating our approach to reporting on Al Qaeda's communiques because they have more value to their own members and friends as propaganda than they do to us as insight into what they are planning.