Al-Qaida’s al-Zawahri, American issue video

‘A special invitation’
“We send a special invitation (to convert to Islam) to all of you fighting Bush’s crusader pipe dream in Afghanistan, Iraq and wherever else ’W’ has sent you to die. You know the war can’t be won,” he said, using Bush’s nickname.

Gadahn also urged other Americans to convert to Islam.

“It is time for the unbelievers to discard these incoherent and illogical beliefs,” he said. “Isn’t it the time for the Christians, Jews, Buddhists and atheists to cast off the cloak of the spiritual darkness which enshrouds them and emerge into the light of Islam?”

Gadahn and al-Zawahri appeared in separate parts of the video, which was released by al-Qaida’s production wing, As-Sahab. Gadahn spoke with his face uncovered, resembling FBI photos, with his name and nom de guerre — “Azzam the American” — written in titles in Arabic and English next to him. Arabic subtitles translated his comments.

Previous appearances
Besides the July 7 video, Gadahn is believed to be a masked figure who appeared in two previous videos not officially from al-Qaida, one given to ABC television in 2004 and another a few days before the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the 2005 tape, the speaker — who had black cloth draped over his face, leaving only his eyes visible — threatened new terror attacks in Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia. The 2004 tape praised the Sept. 11 attacks and said a new wave of attacks could come at any moment.

Much of Gadahn’s latest speech was dedicated to urging Americans to convert to Islam, and he dotted it with fluently recited Arabic verses from the Quran and stories from Islamic history.

He denounced Christianity as a “hollow shell of a religion, whose followers cling to an empty faith and a false conviction in their own salvation.”

“It is time for the unbelievers to discard these incoherent and illogical beliefs,” he said. “We invite all Americans and other unbelievers to Islam, wherever they are.”

Converted to Islam in L.A.
Gadahn grew up in rural simplicity on a ranch southwest of Hemet, Calif. His father, Philip, said he moved there in the 1970s to escape the noise and traffic of the city, changing the family name from Pearlman because he was starting a new life. The family tried raising goats as a business, but it wasn’t profitable and they now keep them just to eat the grass around the home as fire protection.

Gadahn did not attend college, choosing instead to move to the suburbs of Los Angeles where he became a Muslim and worshipped at the Islamic Society of Orange County. The mosque later expelled him for attacking one of its leaders.

The new video had been advertised on militant Web sites for several days. Al-Zawahri last appeared in a video July 27, calling for Muslims to unite in a holy war against Israel and to join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza.

Nancy Pearlman, Gadahn’s aunt, declined to comment about the tape when contacted by The Associated Press, saying she had not seen it. She declined to talk about anything else regarding Gadahn.

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