Infidel Bugs Spoil Al-Libbi's Eulogy of Dadullah

A new videotape was released today by al Qaeda's Abu Yahya al Libbi. The video is devoted, in part, to eulogizing and vowing revenge on behalf of slain mujahideen, particularly Mullah Dadullah, a senior Taliban military commander killed in May.

Insects can be seen buzzing around al Libbi's face at various points during the video -- he ignores them at first but eventually loses patience and attempts to shoo them away, albeit maintaining a perfect poker face in the process. (Click here for video excerpt.)

The light-colored insects may suggest an outdoor or tented filming location. If al Libbi is really unlucky, they could be an unusual variety of bug specific to a certain location. Al Qaeda might end up regretting its commitment to DVD-quality video standards if some enterprising intel analyst deduces al Libbi's location by improbably identifying the winged pests.

The video is in Arabic and lacks the English subtitles of al Libbi's last release. The video continues a recent trend of very strong production values in al Qaeda releases, including a computer-generated backdrop.

Several recent releases have featured highly realistic backdrops -- which are almost indistinguishable from a real room. In this case, the backdrop is more cartoonlike and visibly unreal to even a casual viewer.

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Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink