Bin Laden is coming out with a new video to try and recapture some of the magic he had back in 2001 and 2002. With Iraq a rolling disaster for al-Qaeda now that the Muslim population has risen up against al-Qaeda, it is important Bin Laden come off looking like he can make a come back. From the one image we have seen so far it looks like al-Qaeda’s leader is a bruised and beaten down as his movement:

The first thing everyone has noticed is the shorter beard now bereft of all the gray hairs he used to have. But what I noticed is his right eye and the drooping nature of his upper eyelid. It would be better for Bin Laden if this was a war scar – which it might be. If it is from something like the remnant of a stroke he will come across to everyone as weak and dying. And that will reflect on his movement as well. Imagery is everything and right now al-Qaeda is losing so badly in Iraq it might not ever recover. Once the Muslim street turns on al-Qaeda it is over.

There is no escaping the fact Bin Laden doesn’t look young and strong. He has always been thin and looking a bit emaciated, but he looks even more so now (and will continue to do so as he ages). Even his shoulders looked slumped as well, as if he tires of the war he started with the US. Compare the new image with one that reflects a slightly younger Bin Laden

This is all conjecture based on one frame. But I suspect the video will be more heartening to America than threatening. Bin Laden is paying the price for his actions – and he still has to pay the ultimate price. But he is not living in one of many palaces spread across Iraq – as he would be if we had surrendered Iraq like the Democrats desired so much last spring. Clearly he is and his organization have not weathered the years since 9-11 well, at least as well as we have.

Update: Make sure to check out Gateway Pundit’s picture comparison between the ’04 and ’07 versions of Bin Laden. I found the same (if not similar) picture from 2004:

Comparing this with the latest images I am now very confident his eyes are drooping downward due to some injury or illness. In 2004 his oval shaped eyes were wide open and his eye brows rose high above them. In the latest image this ‘spring’ in his face is gone.