Bizarre Video: The U.S. State Department Spoofs al-Qaeda, Fatwah at 11:00

From the Washington Post:

In the war for Middle Eastern hearts and minds, the U.S. Digital Outreach Team is on the virtual front lines: debating America’s critics on Twitter, commenting on Arabic message boards and generally engaging with anyone they can reach. But that outreach appears to have crossed a new line: spoofing al-Qaeda propaganda videos on an official State Department YouTube channel.

The above video, published in late May, shows al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri delivering a speech to “Muslim brothers everywhere.” But from the opening title, it’s clear something’s a little off: “Alert! It is best to consume carbonated beverages with this material,” it says, according to a translation for The Washington Post by Jennifer Tobkin, an Arabic language specialist at George Washington University. An edited voiceover, meant to sound like al-Zawahiri, then says:

Greetings, Muslim brothers everywhere and especially in Syria. In spite of all the unrest and my jihad duties in the lines of conflict and on the battlefield, [I am] far from Syria. (clears throat) Nevertheless, I wanted to speak to you today to clarify a very important matter that affects your lives and how we will control your destiny, uhhh, I mean your future, especially since today Al-Qaeda has the opportunity to take the banner of oppression, tyranny, and killing from Bashar al-Asad …

It gets weirder from there: A somewhat clunky montage shows brightly garbed dancers spinning in front of al-Zawahiri. A closing credit asks viewers to follow the Engagement Team on Facebook, where they post translated press releases, crude Photoshopped illustrations of Al-Zawahiri and other militants and — inexplicably — a photo of the 8-year-old Boston bombing victim Martin Richard, which prompted a long exchange about the impact of American policy on children in the Muslim world. A press officer confirmed that all of these accounts do, in fact, belong to the State Department....MORE