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On February 10, 2023, As-Sahab, Al-Qaeda's official central media outlet, released issue No. 8 of its Arabic-language Ummah Wahidah ("One Nation") magazine.[1]
The 38-page magazine contains the article "Taking the Pulse of America," which discusses the "unenviable situation" and the "declining status" of the U.S. The piece was penned by Muhsin Al-Rumi, the alias for two other articles in previous issues of Ummah Wahidah about the "decline" of the U.S. One of those articles appeared in the first issue of Ummah Wahidah and was titled "The American Economy toward the Abyss,"[2] and the second, "America Burns: A Year of Biden's Rule and a Succession of Setbacks," appeared in the sixth issue.[3]
Al-Rumi's latest piece begins by pointing out that President Biden has been trying to reach agreements with China to no avail, because Chinese President Xi Jinping knows that America is in decline. In addition, Biden has been disappointed by Saudi Arabia, America's "backyard in the Islamic world," after its announcement through OPEC that it would reduce oil output.
A further setback, according to the article, occurred when the first China-Gulf cooperation Council Summit was held in Riyadh in December 2022, indicating a potential American retreat from the Gulf region in favor of China, although the gathering may also have been a Saudi attempt to "arouse Biden's jealousy and bring him back to the udder of the Saudi milking cow.". Shortly thereafter, in mid-December, Biden organized a summit with 50 African heads of state, possibly as an attempt to keep the West and America from "losing Africa's bounties" to the Chinese dragon.
In Al-Rumi's view, America is divided by conflicts between Democratic and Republican leaders, with Biden and Trump trading accusations, as well as by party divisions, with an ongoing leadership battle between Donald Trump, criticized for not achieving a "red wave" in the latest mid-term elections, and Mike Pence. The Republican party is also accused of failing to choose a speaker for the House of Representatives until the 15th round of voting, in a "comic play" that resembled the Lebanese Parliament, the article notes.
Both left- and right-leaning American media outlets, including Fox News, CNN, MSN and NBC, and newspapers such as the Washington Post and the New York Times, have lost their "journalistic balance" in their coverage of domestic politics, the article claims, and become like "the boys of ISIS' magazine Al-Naba', not caring about the future of their nation and their people."
Al-Rumi claims that further divisions in American society have been caused by Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, and his unconcealed political ambitions. In addition, President Biden must contend with a new Israeli government under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, who has not forgiven Biden for supporting his adversary Yair Lapid in the previous election.
A recent issue of The Economist explores this destabilizing political and societal rift in America, Al-Rumi notes. He refers to other hot-button topics in America, such as the right to abortion and same-sex marriage, and negotiations on the U.S. debt ceiling, which may cause the country to default if an agreement is not reached.
The article further touches on tensions between the U.S. and its European allies, noting that the parallel between the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the French withdrawal from the Sahel region indicate an overall decline of Western control over the rest of the world. Al-Rumi concludes by stating there is "no doubt that the future will be of Islam, and that the next century will be a century of renaissance for Islam, while Islam's enemies will battle each other and weaken each other, and the bases of international peace and security are crumbling." The fragmentation of the international community will be unprecedented, the author predicts, and adds: "What we are now witnessing in the world is a prelude to such transformations, new alliances, new threats. Muslims have to prepare themselves diligently to restore their primacy over the world."
[1] February 10, 2023.
For previous reports on other articles in the same issue, see MEMRI JTTM Reports: Article In New Issue Of Al-Qaeda Magazine Urges Muslims To Adopt 'Deterrence Strategy' To Halt Western Insults To Islam, Calls For Jihad And Charlie Hebdo-Style Attacks Against Sweden, February 13, 2023, and Reacting To Prince Harry's Claim Of Killing 25 Afghans, Al-Qaeda Magazine Condemns His 'Arrogant English Mentality,' Calls For 'Islamic Hands' To Take 'Just Retribution', February 14, 2023.
[2] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Article In Al-Qaeda Magazine 'One Ummah' Urges Supporters To Continue Damage That Bin Laden Did To U.S. Economy On 9/11, April 8, 2019.
[3] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Article In New Issue Of Al-Qaeda Magazine Calls First Year Of Biden Presidency A 'Succession Of Setbacks' For The U.S., February 21, 2023.
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