Not Just a River in Egypt

Wow, does he sound flustered:

Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, began the 15-minute speech, titled "A Message to the People of Pakistan," with a reference to last month's three-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

He says al Qaeda operatives in Iraq have perpetrated "800 martyrdom operations in three years, besides the sacrifices of the other mujahedeen, and this is what has broken the back of America in Iraq."

He adds, "We praise Allah that three years after the Crusader invasion of Iraq, America, Britain and their allies have achieved nothing but losses, disaster and misfortunes."

Al-Zawahiri appears to be encouraging the Pakistani people to follow the lead of the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, telling them to stand up against "the Zionist-Crusader assault" on Muslims and overthrow Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Al-Zawahiri calls Musharraf a "traitor" who placed the country's nuclear program under the supervision of the U.S. government.

"I call on them to strive in earnest to topple this bribe-taking, treacherous criminal, and to back their brothers in the mujahedeen in Afghanistan with everything they've got," al-Zawahiri said.

This is every bit as pathetic as Musab al-Zarqawi's ACME rocket demonstration earlier in the week. al-Zawahiri's cries amount to little more than a confession that al Qaeda has thrown everything it has against America, giving its best and well, err... well it wasn't enough was it?

al Qaeda can keep fighting dying and killing for some time to come, but the corner has been turned, and they now recognize that without a major change in the game, they cannot hope to survive, much less win.

Quite frankly, al-Zawahiri is starting to sound like someone else's dissembling spokesman from not to long ago. I guess that cold, dank cave air is finally getting to him...