Douglas Farah: Bin Laden’s New Message

This seems to be part of the Islamist tradition of warning one’s enemies of an impending attack, and giving the enemy a chance, however brief, to repent and and convert. Whether al Qaeda can carry out a serious attack is a separate question from whether al Qaeda or its affiliates want to carry out such an attack and believe they can.It would be highly demoralizing for bin Laden to make a rare public statement without being able to follow through, or at least believe his organization is capable of following through.