You Read It Here First

From my Monday morning column, written on Sunday:

“At this dramatic turning point, bin Laden reappears with a half-hour long tape, the transcript of which can be found here, and there is something very odd about it, in that it reads like a political polemic that might have been written by an American.”

From the London Telegraph, posted pretty much simultaneously:

“A Californian heavy metal fan, who converted to Islam and became the first American to be charged with treason in half a century, has been fingered as the author of Osama bin Laden’s latest video lecture – which left the terror chief sounding like an anti-globalisation protester….

“American spy chiefs were quick to name Adam Gadahn, the head of al-Qaeda’s English language media operations, as the author of large sections of bin Laden’s broadcast.

“Last October, the 28-year-old ‘loner’ became the first American charged with treason since 1952, for appearing in a succession of al-Qaeda videos under the guise of ‘Azzam The American,’ in which he condemned globalisation and made American cultural references.”

For more on the curious case of Senor Gadahn, go here, here, and here.