And in it he apparently declares war on Pakistan. Bryan explains why that sounds, I don’t know, stupid.

Without the safe haven that Pakistan gave it in Waziristan, al Qaeda wouldn’t be able to mount the offensives that it’s running in Afghanistan. So why declare war on them?

Here’s some information on the tape:

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called on Muslims in Pakistan to wage holy war against the government of President Pervez Musharraf in a new audio message issued on Thursday.

Bin Laden declared al-Qaeda’s intention to retaliate for the blood spilled of “champions of Islam”, in the new recording produced by the terror network’s media arm As-Sahab, United States monitoring organization Site Intelligence Group said.

“It is obligatory on the Muslims in Pakistan to carry out jihad [holy war] and fighting to remove Pervez, his government, his army and those who help him,” said the voice in the tape.

Sounds like a dumb move on OBL (if it’s actually him)’s part. Most believe he’s in Pakistan, in a safe-haven. He can’t return to Afghanistan because we’re there. Unless, of course, he’s counting on Musharraf being defeated, which I don’t see Pervez allowing to happen (he’s actually a military – not political – leader).

My final question: Why is Al Qaeda now focusing attention on Pakistan, and not so much on Iraq?