The house of kidnapped American development expert Warren Weinstein in Lahore, Pakistan, is seen in the background, Aug. 15, 2011 The leader of al Qaeda has issued the terrorist organization's demands in exchange for the release of a 70-year-old American hostage in a newly released video online.
"By the grace of Allah, we, on our part, have captured the American Jew Warren Weinstein. He will not return to his family, by the will of Allah, until our demands are met, which include the release of Aafia Siddique, [Sheikh] Omar Abdul Rehman, the family of [Sheikh] Osama bin Laden, and every single person arrested on allegations of links with Al Qaeda and Taliban," Osama bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, says in the video, according to an accompanying translation provided by al Qaeda's media wing.
The demands come in the midst of a 10-minute message directed at the "Muslim Brothers in Pakistan" in which Zawahiri calls for the Pakistani people to revolt against the corrupt "slaves of America" at the top of the Pakistani military and government.
Zawahiri first claimed that al Qaeda was holding Weinstein in December and implied then that the elderly man would be used to help free "captive soldiers of al Qaeda." Weinstein, a private American citizen and former USAID worker who had been living in Pakistan for seven years, was snatched from his bed in the middle of the night Pakistan in August.
In his earlier message, Zawahiri said,"[President] Obama has the power, capacity and authority to free [Weinstein]... He could also leave him in captivity for years and, if he does something stupid, kill him."
Al Qaeda has previously demanded the release of Aafia Siddique, dubbed by Western officials as "Lady Qaeda," who was convicted in 2010 in a New York court for attempting to murder U.S. government officials. Siddiqui was allegedly caught in Afghanistan with cyanide and documents indicating possible attacks on the U.S. but was convicted for firing a rifle at FBI agents and U.S. soldiers.
Omar Abdul Rehman, known as "the blind sheikh," is currently serving a life sentence in the U.S. for plotting to blow up the World Trade Center, the United Nations headquarters and several other U.S. landmarks in the 1990s. He was sentenced in 1995.
By demanding the release of "the family of [Sheikh] Osama bin Laden," Zawahiri may be referring to the recent arrest of Osama bin Laden's three wives in Pakistan. The three have been charged with living in the country illegally, according to an announcement by Pakistan's Interior Ministry.
Afghans burn an effigy depicting the U.S. following the killing of civilians in Panjwai, Kandahar by a U.S. soldier during a protest in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, March 13, 2012 Federal authorities have issued a warning there could be "acts of violence" in the homeland sparked by the recent massacre of 16 civilians in Afghanistan allegedly by an American soldier.
"The FBI and DHS [Department of Homeland Security] are concerned that this event could contribute to the radicalization or mobilization of homegrown violent extremists [HVEs] in the homeland, particularly against U.S.-based military targets which HVEs have historically considered legitimate targets for retaliation in response to past alleged U.S. military actions against civilians overseas," the FBI and DHS said in a joint "awareness bulletin" to law enforcement agencies Wednesday.
The bulletin noted that there is no specific threat at this time and said it is "unlikely" the recent killings and other "high-profile perceived offenses against Islam" would motivate any homeland extremist to violent action. "However," the bulletin says, "[the killings] will likely be incorporated into violent extremist propaganda and could contribute to an individual's radicalization to violence."
High level federal officials have repeatedly warned that one of the greatest threats facing the American homeland comes from self-radicalized, homegrown terrorists who may be inspired by -- but have little to no contact with -- major terrorist groups.
In December, a Congressional report released by the staff of Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said such homegrown terrorists were a "severe and emerging threat" to the U.S. military at home and said military communities in the U.S. "have recently become the most sought-after targets of violent Islamist extremists seeking to kill Americans in their homeland.
Tensions at home and abroad have been strained since an American soldier was accused of systematically murdering 16 Afghan civilians -- mostly women and children -- in the middle of the night Sunday, apparently in an unprovoked attack in Kandahar.
The soldier, identified only as a staff sergeant hailing from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, surrendered when he returned to his base in Afghanistan and has since been moved to Kuwait.
The killings have sparked some heated protests in Afghanistan during which Afghans burned an effigy of President Barack Obama as well as the cross.
Speaking of the alleged killing spree, Obama said Tuesday, "The United States takes this as seriously as if it were our own citizens and our own children who were murdered."
"The killing of innocent civilians is outrageous and it's unacceptable. It's not who we are as a country and it does not represent our military," he said.
Singer Gets Free Nose Job in Exchange for Song A Miami-based plastic surgeon is under investigation after commissioning a song and music video that encourages plastic surgery for a character whose nose is described as a "beak like Jewcan Sam."
Dr. Michael Salzhauer, 40, funded the video "Jewcan Sam" to "connect" to a younger audience.
The creator of the song, a band known as The Groggers, describes itself as a "Jewish pop-punk band with a comic twist."
At the time of making the song, subtitled a "A Nose Job Love Song," the band's lead singer, L.E. Doug Staiman, jokingly asked whether the doctor offered a group rate on rhinoplasty.
"I told him, 'It's funny you're commissioning us to do this, because most of our band members have these massive, deformed noses,'" Staiman said. "And he generously offered nose jobs to the entire band. But I was the only one who went through with it."
"Jewcan Sam" is a play on "Toucan Sam," the cartoon mascot for Froot Loops breakfast cereal with the protruding, multicolored beak.
The Anti-Defamation League, an organization committed to the fight against anti-Semitism, did not return requests for comment.
"The song is meant to be funny, not offensive," Salzhauer said.
But not everyone has found the take-away message so funny.
"This is just disturbing that a doctor would play into the frailties of the human condition," said Dr. Malcolm Roth, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Salzhauer reportedly flew the band from Queens, N.Y., to Miami, where they shot the music video and Staiman underwent surgery at Salzhauer's practice, Bal Harbour Plastic Surgery. Staiman said he made the offer to the band because, in his professional opinion, they all could use nose jobs.
The music video stars Staiman as a Jewish high school student in love with a classmate who tells him he isn't good enough for her because of his nose. The song opens with the lines, "I want her, but she don't want what I am/She says you got a beak like Jewcan Sam/She says I only go with guys/with perfect upturned noses, so cut yours down to size."
So, in order to win the girl of his dreams, he has the surgery. In the end, she rejects him again, and a teacher immediately hits on him.
Salzhauer said that while some might find the song sad or even offensive, the message is in fact quite deep: No one should undergo cosmetic surgery to please somebody else.
"The singer was able to express in a very tongue-in-cheek way that you shouldn't base your self-esteem on someone else or go under the knife to get validation from someone else," said Salzhauer. "That never works out. He doesn't get the girl in the video."
But the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), of which Salzhauer is a member, said the video is "offensive and inappropriate."
Because of its content, and because it was commissioned by one of its members, the ASPS "has initiated an investigation under its Code of Ethics which clearly requires ASPS members to uphold the dignity and honor of the medical profession."
Roth said he could not comment specifically on the investigation but, generally speaking, if a member of ASPS is found guilt of breaching its Code of Ethics, the physician can end up on probation, have his or her benefits put on hold, lose membership, and even lose board certification, he said.
Salzhauer has expanded his plans since The Groggers recorded the music video. He is now holding a contest in which people can make their own music videos for the song. The video creator who receives the most views on YouTube will receive a free rhinoplasty.
The video and contest are an attempt to connect with a younger audience using social media. Although Salzhauer said he recognizes that this campaign might be controversial or seen as encouraging young people to get plastic surgery, he doesn't see it that way.
"This is how people connect nowadays, through social media, and it's a little bit cutting-edge," he said. "It can start a discussion on something that is common but still a little bit stigmatized."
This is the second time Salzhauer has given away plastic surgery. In 2008, he gave away a "mommy makeover" to promote his book "My Beautiful Mommy," which explains plastic surgery to children.
Salzhauer noted that most of his clients are between 15 and 30, which is no different from when he was young, and girls in his class received rhinoplasties as bat mitzvah gifts, he said.
But Roth of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons said plastic surgeons must be sensitive to the realities of cosmetic surgery, particularly in teenagers.
"This is something elective and needs to be contemplated very carefully by teenagers and their families," Roth said. "There are usually all sort of issues that a normal teenager goes through, regardless of how they appear to the outside world."
Because of the uniqueness of teens seeking plastic surgery, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued a briefing paper on the appropriateness of plastic surgery in teens. "Teens tend to have plastic surgery to fit in with peers, to look similar. Adults tend to have plastic surgery to stand out from others," it states.
Board certified plastic surgeons are to evaluate psychological implications in a potential patient before they ever go under the knife.
"A discussion with the patient and family is important to ascertain whether motivation for consultation might be mitigated with something other than surgery," Roth said. "Surgery is not the first step you take when you're not happy with your appearance."
