Jihadi Tunes

From the Department of bad ideas, an al-Qaeda affiliate affectionately known as Abu al-Laith al-Yemen has announced the planned production of an animated film for children. According to the press release on the Jihadist al-Shamouk website, the cartoon will be "a very exciting story that tells the facts about who let down the Islamic religion and the Prophet." (Without giving away too much, I can reveal that the dreaded individual who does the letting down is a shadowy character known as Infidel Man.) The press release goes on to say that the cartoon will track "real incidents and features heroic actions by the Mujahideen in the Prophet's peninsula" before helpfully adding that "these incidents include raids, armed engagements and assassinations."   You can't have a good al-Qaeda press release without some sort of a mission statement, and this one does not disappoint. The cartoon is being offered as an "alternative to the poison that is broadcast by other TV channels to our children and youth."   "I cannot imagine what channel would broadcast this," says Ali Yahya Al-Ahmar, spokesman for Yemen's Al-Saeeda television. "We are not by nature a cartoon loving people, and I do not expect that to change anytime soon. I myself enjoy the occasional cartoon, but in this instance I feel the direction is misguided. When the coyote beheads the roadrunner, it simply does not produce a chuckle."