Bin Laden Blames Monarchy

Here's one that almost passed me by in my ongoing effort to, well, avoid anything news related: a new Bin Laden tape has been released.

"We pray to Allah to welcome the souls of the mujahidin (Islamic fighters) who attacked the American consulate in Jeddah," he said, referring to the 6 December attack in the Saudi city in which four of the attackers, together with five non-American embassy staff members, were killed.

The message of the tape seems to be that the Saudi monarchy is to blame for unrest in the nation.

"In Saudi Arabia, it is the king and not Allah who commands sovereignty and complete obedience," the voice on the tape said. "I advised the government two decades ago to remedy the situation ... but it has not changed at all."

Now this is funny. Arthur Chrenkoff (who, worryingly, uses exactly the same template as me - I didn't think there was anybody as lazy as me) remarks upon Osama's complaints about the House of Saud:

And thus Osama becomes yet another billionaire complaining about the growing gap between the rich and the poor, a sort of George Soros with a Closed Society Institute.

Heh.

Also blogging - Rusty, James Joyner, The MUSC Tiger, Our Life, Crossroads at Arabia, Blogs of War, Backcountry Conservative and The Command Post.