Osama Bin Laden's messages from the wilderness get little attention nowadays. Al-Qaeda has been unable to land a blow on Western soil since the 2005 London bombings. Its leaders lurk in Pakistan’s tribal belt, hiding from regular lethal attacks by America’s unmanned Predator aircraft. Their Pushtun hosts are tiring of their troublesome guests. Perhaps most damaging, former supporters publicly denounce its ideology.

The resultant bickering and low morale do not mean that al-Qaeda and its followers cannot still mount spectacular attacks. Western intelligence services are convinced the group tried to blow up several transatlantic airliners in 2006. It can still pose a menace in, say, parts of Asia. But for now, Mr bin Laden has to try to exploit the news, rather than to make it.

So it was with his last philippic, an audio recording issued on January 14th, in which he claimed that his jihad against America since 2001 had been responsible for bringing about the superpower’s economic collapse. His followers would “continue jihad for another seven years, seven more after that, and even seven more after.” The inauguration of Barack Obama, he said, changes nothing; democracy is a form of “polytheism”. The new president is “like one who swallows a double-edged sword” and will be hurt however he moves. If he withdraws from his predecessor’s wars, Mr Obama suffers military defeat; if he continues, he deepens the economic crisis.

Above all, Mr bin Laden sought to exploit Muslim outrage over Israel’s war in Gaza. Forget about street protests, diplomatic mediation or treacherous Arab leaders, said Mr bin Laden; the only way to defeat Israel was through jihad. Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence service, is among those who worry that the war in Gaza will have radicalised more Muslims.

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