UPDATE at 10:08 EST, Feb 11, 2010

Here we go -- from the NYT:

As security forces clashed with his opponents, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran was quoted on Thursday as saying his country had produced a first batch of uranium enriched to a level of 20 percent, taunting the West by declaring that if Tehran wanted to build a nuclear bomb, it would say so. Iran, he said, repeating an earlier assertion, was now “a nuclear state.”

As Iran rolls on into its "ten days of dawn" celebration -- during which it has promised to "punch" the West/peeps they don't like -- several important stories have come out of the Islamic Republic the past few days. Here are the few we are following here at D&D -- check back soon for updates on these and more!

Today we have a new message from Al Qaeda, purportedly from Osama bin Laden. In it, I believe, we see a continuation of a new trend in AQ communication: find ways to tie their brand of Qutbist Salafism to what they perceive as the source of other anti-western ideologies.

Who is AQ's new enemy? Meet the new boss -- same as the old boss. Globalization, Western Governments, International Corporations, and the President of the United States. Only, AQ no longer hates them because they are the Jahili Corrupters of the True Islam, or the Zionist-Crusader Alliance to Destroy the Umma. Now they deserve destruction for pollution and green house gas emissions.

Perhaps I would have been more convinced if the message had ended with OBL screaming "with our powers combined...", yet, his ability to co-opt these issues as AQ's own is severely limited -- as much as AQ wants to appear inclusionist and pragmatically issue-driven in their mission, they remain, in fact, an elitist, exclusionist movement.

They are lead by inflexible billionaire demagogues drawn from the elites of their home countries. For every message attempting to "issue include" new groups or individuals, there is a message of exclusion or purging -- usually from Abu Yahyia al Libi.

Yet, as was proven by the efficacy of the M-11 Bombings in Madrid, Al Qaeda has realized one important thing -- that while they have little ability to power-project into Western Nations, they do have the ability to radicalize and inspire western self-starters through their strategic communications. I agree with Jarret Brachman's analysis that AQ has rebranded itself from a terrorist organization that uses the media to a media organization that uses terror.

One worrying possibility -- IntelCenter (the masters of connecting terrorists to other people with lines) has done an excellent job correlating AQ communications and actual attacks, and with 2 such communications from bin Laden this week, I hope that their warnings on this issue are off base.

While I'm sure there will be a big media spin-up surrounding this new communication from AQ, lets not lend too much credence to the message that Osama has spread here.

AQ railing against globalization is like Scott Brown railing against pick-up trucks.

AQ does not choose their enemies based on the ratification of the Kyoto Protocols, nor are they looking to partner-up with the Green movement. AQ simply seeks out non-religious language with which to mask their twistedly corrupted brand of Political Islam. This message is merely AQ's attempt to further define their enemies through language that doesn't sound as millenarianly cosmic as their actual beliefs. I think we may be witnessing Adam Ghadan's input here.

Thanks for reading, see below for the pertinent quotes from bin Laden's message. Please tell me what you think as well!

From today's Osama bin Laden message:
“This is a message to the whole world about those responsible for climate change and its repercussions – whether intentionally or unintentionally – and about the action we must take…”

“Speaking about climate change is not a matter of intellectual luxury – the phenomenon is an actual fact.”

“All the industrial states…[are to blame for climate change]…yet the majority of those states have signed the Kyoto Protocol and agreed to curb the emission of harmful gases.”

“However, George Bush junior, preceded by [the US] congress, dismissed the agreement to placate giant corporations. And they are themselves standing behind speculation, monopoly and soaring living costs.”

“They are also behind ‘globalisation and its tragic implications’. And whenever the perpetrators are found guilty, the heads of state rush to rescue them using public money.”

“Noam Chomsky [the US academic and political commentator] was correct when he compared the US policies to those of the Mafia. They are the true terrorists and therefore we should refrain from dealing in the US dollar and should try to get rid of this currency as early as possible.”

“I am certain that such actions will have grave repercussions and huge impact.”‘

“Those heinous crimes that shocked humanity, nothing of worth mentioning significance has changed. After all this, their new agent [President Obama] was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which he received to further deceive and humiliate mankind.”

“The bitter truth has become clear; namely, the world is abducted by the owners of the giant corporations.”

“The world has a historic opportunity to be liberated from dependency on America because it is, with God’s grace, in a critical predicament, drowned in the quagmires of Iraq, and lost among the mountains of Afghanistan.”