At Belmont Club, a description of the contents of a 23 minute tape by Ayman al-Zawahiri, pleading for more “sandals on the ground” ;

Zawahiri reminds his listeners of the establishment of the Caliphate-in-exile “which everybody applauded”; but bitterly notes that some of those who once clapped now opposed the Islamic State of Iraq “because it is not empowered”, which I can only take to mean “in declining fortune”. But never fear, he now claims, the “wind is blowing against Washington”. Then he digresses and excoriates the Saudis, contrasting the way they sent the youth for Jihad into Afghanistan and but now have forbidden young men to go into Iraq; and who Zawahiri accuses of working tirelessly on behalf of the Americans to deliver Muslim lands into the hands of the Jew! He then switches to a audio clip from a commander who asks why he is getting no reinforcements, why Muslim scholars are hanging back from endorsing their struggle. At this point in watching the video, I realized that although the idea of the “moderate Muslim” may be laughed to scorn by conservatives, the concept was real to Zawahiri at least, as a bitter and galling reality. He seemed disappointed that the Ummah was not prepared to go as far as he.
The degree of despair can be gathered from the video’s choice of metaphor. The Al-Qaeda tape compared the Muslim debates over whether or to follow it’s lead in the Jihad to the idle discussions within Constantinople over how many devils could stand on the tip of a pin as the Muslims were battering the walls with catapaults — except this time the roles were reversed. It was the hated Americans were doing the battering and the bickering Muslims who were counting the devils upon the pins. Even allowing for hyperbole, the choice of metaphor does little to convey confidence.
[…]
Zawahiri then goes and declares how pure the al-Qaeda in Iraq is compared to Hamas, how unstained by innocent blood. He says this with a straight face, but his whiskers have me at a disadvantage. Then having denied any misdeeds, he makes the extraordinary offer to submit the Caliphate’s leaders and men to Muslim judicial proceedings — some kind of Islamic International Criminal Court — strange that the Brussel’s ICC’s writ runs so short that Zawahiri doesn’t even consider it from across the Mediterranean Sea. And my guess on hearing these words is that Zawahiri is feeling the heat, despite his disclaimers of innocence and heading off the complaints about al-Qaeda’s bloody tactics in Iraq. He is saying “I promise to cooperate fully with any investigation”. That would be the way it would be phrased in Washington. Then he claims is being wronged by the Mainstream Media, which reserves favorable coverage for those bozos Hamas when they are thugs, while his pure warriors are depicted as baby-killers by ignorant correspondents. (Snicker. – Ed)
Zawahiri’s explains that al-Qaeda’s counterattacked in Iraq was to save it from the defeat which overtook Afghanistan. He says so plainly. He saw it — initially at least — as fundamentally defensive in character; a blocking action to an imminent American threat. And in my opinion, his great fortune lay in that Iraq was so close, to the sources of his Arabian manpower pool that he was able generate a much greater force than has been possible in Afghanistan. And yet despite the advantage of fighting in the heart of the Arab World he was running out of recruits, which is the entire point of his whole video. Maybe the American strategy of turning the Sunnis against the al-Qaeda has had international repercussions on his recruiting. Word is filtering back to other Arab countries that al-Qaeda is the enemy; that it’s not all it was cracked up to be when it could be viewed from the romantic distance of Afghanistan. Up close it was ugly. In an indirect way the battlefield has produced what diplomacy was supposed to and could not. It has alienated al-Qaeda from some of its Sunni base. If I am right, it’s a thunderclap.

The tape can be viewed at Powerline.
At Memri, another summary of the tape’s main themes.

“His poor family. They figured he must have been referring to Live Earth and sat through 14 hours expecting to see him, Dr Mohammed, Dr Muhammed, Dr Mohammad and Dr Muhammad as back-up singers to Cat Stevens.”

At first, he said, they would only target Shia, but over time the new al Qaeda directed attacks against Sunni, and then anyone who thought differently. The official reported that on a couple of occasions in Baqubah, al Qaeda invited to lunch families they wanted to convert to their way of thinking. In each instance, the family had a boy, he said, who was about 11 years old. As LT David Wallach interpreted the man’s words, I saw Wallach go blank and silent. He stopped interpreting for a moment. I asked Wallach, “What did he say?”

More.

First: Take steps to prevent personal injury.
h/t

Without borders;

[B]oth doctors trained in their home countries, neither of them practised there. As soon as they qualified, they left for the west, whose government health services have a chronic shortage of medical personnel that can only be filled by fast-track immigration from almost anywhere on the planet. If that’s a strategic decision to exploit a vulnerable express check-in to the western world (as they did with Britain’s fast-track imam immigration program of the Nineties), it’s an extremely canny one.

Story: Five doctors held over attacks. Freedom fighters, driven by despair, poverty and hopelessness.
Update: And another, arrested in Brisbane. (h/t Maz2)
Should the term “terror cell” be updated to “terror practice”? One wonders what the hell is going on here.
Oh, looks like terror practice is appropriate. (On a different topic – someone help me out here. How does a 26-year-old become a practicing neurologist? What is this, the Readers Digest version of medical school or just Mohammed Jamil Howzer?)
With the numbers of foreign-trained doctors peopling our marvellous medical system, all ll I can say is that I hope CSIS is on scramble orders tonight.

Michael Yon;

Captain Clayton Combs has been fighting hard in Diyala for about ten months, much of it side-by-side with Iraqi soldiers from the 5th Division. Each time I’ve come into contact with the 5th, they seem far better than most. American officers and sergeants who work with the 5th have good things to report about them, saying that although the 5th still has far to go, and cannot sustain itself logistically, it can fight.
Captain Combs said this particular Iraqi unit, the 3-25, has never run away from combat, and never refused to close on the enemy. Combs said, “I’ve fought with 3-25 for 10 months in Diyala and they have always come when I am in trouble. They always go on patrols when I ask. They never back down.”
I asked Captain Combs to repeat what he said, making sure he knew I was planning to quote him directly. A veteran like Combs would be unlikely to append his name to such words if he weren’t dead serious. Captain Combs repeated his words and stuck by them. He then demonstrated that faith when we took off deeper into the danger zone with nine soldiers from 5th IA: just Captain Combs, Iraqi soldiers and me. As we passed through the village, Captain Combs pointed out the nice houses, saying the people had been simple farmers with comfortable homes and lives.
Until al Qaeda came.

When you’re finished, these thoughts from Michael Ledeen.

CTV;

GLASGOW, Scotland — Witnesses have told the British news media that a motorist tried to ram a Cherokee Jeep in flames into the main terminal building of Glasgow airport today.
The British Broadcasting Corp. says witnesses described an SUV driving at full speed toward the terminal building with flames pouring out from the car.
The BBC says the airport was evacuated and all flights suspended.
SKY News television says another witness reported that the car was stopped by security barriers and police tackled a man who fled from the car.

As noted, this item is derived from third hand media sources, so it may turn out to be just an accident.
BBC has more.
Update The incident is now being considered a terrorist attack. (Fox News)
More details are coming out and it’s thick with read-between-the-lines fodder;

One of them is in critical condition from severe burns and detained in the hospital. There was a “suspect device” found on him, and as a result the hospital had to be partially evacuated. Police were asked whether the device was a “suicide belt” but declined to answer beyond saying the device was “removed and brought to a safe place.”
The other suspect is in police custody.
The SUV used in the attack is still at the airport and still deemed very unstable. Police will not be able to examine it until the specialists give them the high sign. Until then, the airport is considered unstable. The vehicle contained materials that were flammable and that continues to be the continuing concern—police are not saying there are chemical components. As a result of the instability, there are still passengers stuck on the tarmac because it is deemed to be safer to keep them where they are at the moment than to move them.

Joe Lieberman;

I recently returned from Iraq and four other countries in the Middle East, my first trip to the region since December. In the intervening five months, almost everything about the American war effort in Baghdad has changed, with a new coalition military commander, Gen. David Petraeus; a new U.S. ambassador, Ryan Crocker; the introduction, at last, of new troops; and most important of all, a bold, new counterinsurgency strategy.
The question of course is–is it working? Here in Washington, advocates of retreat insist with absolute certainty that it is not, seizing upon every suicide bombing and American casualty as proof positive that the U.S. has failed in Iraq, and that it is time to get out.
In Baghdad, however, discussions with the talented Americans responsible for leading this fight are more balanced, more hopeful and, above all, more strategic in their focus–fixated not just on the headline or loss of the day, but on the larger stakes in this struggle, beginning with who our enemies are in Iraq. The officials I met in Baghdad said that 90% of suicide bombings in Iraq today are the work of non-Iraqi, al Qaeda terrorists. In fact, al Qaeda’s leaders have repeatedly said that Iraq is the central front of their global war against us. That is why it is nonsensical for anyone to claim that the war in Iraq can be separated from the war against al Qaeda–and why a U.S. pullout, under fire, would represent an epic victory for al Qaeda, as significant as their attacks on 9/11.

Via Darcey;

It’s a shame Prime Minister Stephen Harper “will not recognize Tamils as a nation,” Scarborough-Agincourt MP Jim Karygiannis said on stage during the rally.
Karygiannis then called the ban on LTTE a shame and promised many MPs, especially Liberals, “will stand shoulder to shoulder with you” to ensure “peace with justice” in Sri Lanka.

Emphasis mine.

But, first he has to dress up as a girl.

Keeping score.