Thursday, August 04, 2005
Bluster, and a question about the Muslim calendar
Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri threatened more destruction in London, saying in a videotape broadcast Thursday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair would be to blame.
Al-Zawahri also threatened the United States with tens of thousands of military dead if it does not withdraw its troops from Iraq immediately.
The tape, aired on the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera, was delivered exactly one month after the July 7 bombings in London that killed 56 people, including four suicide attackers.
Substance aside, who edits these things? Today is August 4. It has not been "one month," according to Pope Gregory XIII, since July 7. Could they have consulted a Muslim calendar? I understand that Islamic months are a little over 29 days. The A.P.'s "exactly one month" is apparently relying on neither the Gregorian nor the Muslim calendar.
If the A.P. is going to imply significance in the passage of time, it should explain the unit of measurement that it is using.
1 Comments:
By 
Sotosoroto, at
Thu Aug 04, 11:20:00 AM:
By exactly a month, I think they mean exactly four weeks. Because, you know, every month is a non-leap-year February.
