As part of its ongoing propaganda war, al Qaeda's leaders are once again flooding the airwaves. Both Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri reportedly cover a lot of ground in their two new recently released tapes. Importantly, they have once again declared war on President Musharraf and his government.

Al Qaeda's threats towards Musharraf are not, of course, entirely new. But these most recent threats appear to be explicitly timed to coincide with the announcement of the date for upcoming elections, which will determine Musharraf's political fate.

One tape, entitled "Come to Jihad," reportedly features the voice of Osama bin Laden. Laura Mansfield, whose translations of al Qaeda's missives are indispensable, provided the Associated Press with some of the highlights from the tape. Bin Laden says the conflict at the Red Mosque in July "demonstrated Musharraf's insistence on continuing his loyalty, submissiveness and aid to America against the Muslims . . . and makes armed rebellion against him and removing him obligatory." Bin Laden called on Pakistanis to rebel against Musharraf: "So when the capability is there, it is obligatory to rebel against the apostate ruler, as is the case now."

Another tape features Ayman al-Zawahiri. According to the Associated Press, Zawahiri also referenced the siege of the Red Mosque, saying it "revealed the extent of the despicableness, lowliness and treason of Musharraf and his forces, who don't deserve the honor of defending Pakistan, because Pakistan is a Muslim land, whereas the forces of Musharraf are hunting dogs under [President] Bush's crucifix."

These open threats raise the specter of a fresh round of attacks in Pakistan. But Musharraf's life has been threatened before--al Qaeda has already made several attempts on Musharraf's life. The real question, then, is: will these most recent threats convince Pakistan, and her American ally, to do more about al Qaeda's safe haven in the northern tribal regions?

It is no secret that al Qaeda's two most senior leaders are, most likely, hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan, including Northern and Southern Waziristan. In fact, in his most recent tape, bin Laden reportedly refers to fallen al Qaeda leaders who were slain in these areas as additional justification for attacking Musharraf's government. But Musharraf's response to the terror emanating from these uncontrolled areas of Pakistan has been uneven. At some points in the past he has been willing to make a show of force in confronting the thousands of terrorists holed up there, but at other times he has effectively ceded large swaths of Pakistani territory to al Qaeda's tribal allies. The latter happened last year when Musharraf agreed to the disastrous tribal accords, which limited Pakistan's engagement in the region and allowed al Qaeda and its allies time to further entrench themselves in their new safe haven.