The grooming of the heir apparent?

It was widely reported towards the end of last year that Osama bin Laden had designated his 16-year old son Hamza, as his successor as the sheikh of Al-Qaida. Now, Hamza is making more headlines with his "poem" than his father's last two audio recordings did. I want to clarify that I do not necessarily subscribe to the reports circulated over the past month that Osama is nearing death and in poor physical condition, but it is rather curious that his son would release his first tape as reports of his father's impending death surface.

Regardless of his father's circumstances, Hamza's tape comes as reports swirl of Al-Qaida breeding a new line of terrorists-the youth. Reports since April have come in steadily of increased recruiting of young boys, when a video tape was released of a 12-year old beheading an individual at a Taliban school in Pakistan. To further impress this growing trend, in the deadly attack on Sunday commemorating the Red Mosque siege in Islamabad, it is reported that the suicide bomber may have been 15 to 16 years old. Whether this recording is a sign of an imminent passage of command or a call to arms for the youth, it makes sense in the Al-Qaida recruitment. The Al-Qaida movement is creating forces that it is counting on to last another generation, and what better way to target the upcoming youth than by using one of its own.