Osama bin Laden’s latest message is a hodgepodge of anti-capitalist vitriol, Islamic evangelism and a twisted attempt at reconciliation: Join us, or we’ll kill you.

Analysts said the video that came out days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks is more about timing than substance, an attempt by history’s most wanted fugitive to thumb his nose at the forces against him and remind the world he hasn’t been caught.

He ridiculed President Bush on Iraq, saying events there have gotten “out of control” and comparing the American leader to “one who plows and sows the sea: He harvests nothing but failure.”

Despite fears, al-Qaida has so far failed to launch a second attack on the scale of Sept. 11, and many believe the video message – bin Laden’s first since 2004 – was also an attempt to stay relevant.

“The question everyone was asking is, is he dead or alive?” said Louis Caprioli of the risk management firm Geos, and former head of the French intelligence agency DST’s anti-terrorism operations. “Now we have proof that he’s alive, surprising a lot of experts who thought he was dead.”

Bin Laden made no overt threats of attacks in the video released Friday. In fact, he seemed more concerned with lecturing on the evils of capitalism and the dangers of global warming.

Caprioli said bin Laden took pains in the video to present himself as a statesman, attempting to put himself on the same level as world leaders.

“He wants to change his role, to be a leader who speaks to other leaders, and to cast himself as a champion of the oppressed.”