In one article, it sums up why al Qaeda targets America in 5 bullet points (adapted from Osama bin Laden's "methodology"):

• America considers Islam to be its primary enemy and a threat to the very foundations of its existence. It has waged an incessant war against Islam and Muslims that has become increasingly overt over the last two decades. America considers it to be its foremost duty to crush every Islamic movement struggling for the ascendancy of Islam.
• America is the patron-in-chief of Israel and the real cause of the existence of this oppressive and corrupt Zionist entity. America is equally responsible for every single act of oppression carried out against our brethren in Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
• America is responsible for the shedding of Muslim blood in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Mali, Burma, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and the rest of the Islamic world.
• America also bears responsibility for the tyranny, oppression and poverty from which the Muslim masses of the region are suffering. In this age of neo-colonialism, America has established colonies in the Muslim world through proxy rulers and apostate armies. Using these puppet rulers, America plunders the wealth and resources of the Muslim Ummah; while the vast majority of Muslims live in abject poverty.
• In an attempt to subvert the religion of the Muslim masses, America defends and supports individuals, movements, and organizations which spread secularism and apostasy in the Islamic world.

There's a message for America and its allies from Taliban leader Mullah Omar (Mullah Muhammad Umar Mujahid of the Islamic Emirates):

We would like to convey this message to America and the European countries that have forces deployed in Afghanistan or want to establish permanent military bases so as to safeguard their political clout in this country that you should leave the Afghans alone so that they may form a free and independent Islamic government in accordance with their religious and national aspirations. The fact that you seek to deprive them of this right is an act of injustice and a violation of the values of humanity.

Rest assured that the result of this crime will be no different from what you have experienced at our hands during the last thirteen years of your occupation. Perhaps you would have realized by now that the Afghan nation has a rich history of Jihad and heroism in defense of its religion and freedom. This nation does not accept humiliation or the imposition of puppet governments.

We believe that the war in Afghanistan will not end until all occupation forces have departed from the country and a purely free Islamic government is established in Afghanistan. The presence of even a limited number of occupation forces, whatever the pretext may be, will necessitate the continuation of the war. Any attempt to prolong the occupation is something that will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

In a section on unifying jihad's various "ranks," the author writes:

The establishment of this organization comes in the wake of the American defeat and withdrawal from Afghanistan. America had invaded Afghanistan on the pretext of eliminating Al Qa’eda, but the enemies of Allah should know that Al Qa’eda is as much a message as it is an organization, and today its message has spread much farther than they could have ever imagined. This Jihad will not end with the American withdrawal from Afghanistan; America’s defeat is only the prelude. What lies in wait for her despicable ‘allies’ (read toadies) in this region is yet to unfold.

Shorter version: You can't defeat an idea, especially one that continues to spread around the globe.

This group still thinks Osama bin Laden is the greatest. There are several articles about him, including one that portrays him as a devoted father to his sons.

Anyone who had the chance to sit with him could not fail to appreciate his noble manners, graceful demeanour and high character.

At least the writer agrees that it was Khalid bin Laden, not Hamza bin Laden who died with Osama. Hamza, who was reportedly being groomed to be Osama's successor, wasn't at the raid, but in Pakistan. Osama was hoping he would get to Qatar or Saudi Arabia. Here's the letter Osama wrote a month before the raid about Hamza. Where is Hamza now? It doesn't say.

The magazine also lays out the group's objectives:

• Engaging in Jihad against America and the system of disbelief that has been established under its aegis.
• Striving for the implementation of the Shariah in Muslim lands and a complete revival of the Islamic way of life.
• Striving for the freedom of all occupied Muslim lands and liberating the oppressed Muslims of the Subcontinent from Kashmir to Arakan.
• Performing Jihad for the establishment of the Caliphate according to the Prophetic methodology.
• Defending the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: a harbinger of the Caliphate and a stepping stone towards its revival in the Ummah.
• Forming a just Islamic society in which there
  is no oppression against anyone, including the disbelievers.

It does not say that al Baghdadi is the Caliph it is waiting for.

The cover article is written by Adam Yahiye Gadahn, who is often referred to as al Qaeda's American spokesman, and is mostly an attack on capitalism.

It is time for us to fight fire with fire, and impose our own blockade and embargo on the Jews and Crusaders, by hitting them where it hurts and striking the heart and lifeblood of their economy, represented by international trade and finance.

The group plans to attack the U.S. Navy and ships in the Pakistan region. It devotes five pages to how the U.S. military is structured in the Middle East, listing all the command posts, and explains where it is weak and susceptible to attack. (Pages 99 to 103.)

There's an interesting article about crime and police by a tribal leader in Pakistan, with what I take as a jab at ISIS strategy. ISIS, as we know, insists on creating armed police forces who roam the streets looking for violators of Shariah law and criminals. He writes:

I can most emphatically claim that the tribal areas in general and Waziristan in particular have the lowest crime rates in Pakistan. Why? Because you don’t have the Punjab Police here. There is no crime because there is no police station in the tribal belt. You bring in a police station in a peaceful place, and you’ll soon see crime institutionalized. The police thrives where crime thrives....

...Another reason why you don’t have crime here is that it’s an armed society. In fact, before it is armed, it is a “society”. It is a world apart from our cities where all social ties have been bisected by the false gods of money and materialism. Our cities are places occupied by zombies who construct their own artificial reality around them to protect themselves from the real world. It’s an artificial world where you can’t tell a man from a walking ATM.

And to make matters worse, arms are the monopoly of two types of criminals: one in uniform that goes around in those Blue Civics (if he is a bigger criminal, then an olive green Hilux) and the other your petty thieves and robbers, who most of the time don’t even have bullets in their magazines and will load their guns twice, if not thrice, to scare their innocent (read ignorant) victims!

He says the tribes in Pakistan support jihad.

Everywhere it is the tribes and tribal society that have defended Islam against a global onslaught and have sheltered the Mujahideen.

(Of course, a few days ago, some tribal leaders and Taliban in Pakistan threw their support to ISIS. But there are also some denials as to which groups have pledged allegiance here. )

Another interesting article is a reprint of one written by a military commander for al Qaida, Abu Obaida al Maqdisi who it says was killed last summer. He warns against "overstretching" guerrilla warfare. Perhaps I'm reading into it, but I think he takes a few stabs at ISIS.

New jihadi groups that strive to gain empowerment on earth and establish the rule of Allah in the land, instead of merely inflicting losses on the enemy at the tactical level, should avoid beginning special operations against the enemy until they have guaranteed the basic conditions of their own survival.

Carrying out special operations is tantamount to entering into an all out war with the enemy in which the weaker side (usually the Mujahideen) tends to be unprepared for the reaction of the enemy. The enemy will escalate the conflict in reaction to these operations. A sudden escalation of the conflict may, in the end, result in the encirclement of the guerilla force, tightening the noose on it, and turning away supporters who are as important for the guerillas as water is for fish. Just as fish cannot survive outside water, guerilla fighters cannot survive if they are cut off from their supporters.

Thus the Mujahideen should avoid taking this step until they possess the ability to carry on the work even after they have carried out such operations...

...A guerilla force may possess the capacity of inflicting huge blows on the enemy, but it may be better for it to restrain from doing so in situations when the reaction of the enemy may be overwhelming. The environment for conducting spectacular special operations is never conducive until the guerilla force has attained sufficient strength and has become invulnerable to the power of the enemy. It is only after reaching this level of strength that it is possible to direct decisive blows against the enemy.

The basic principle, therefore, is to take into account the reaction of the enemy before every step in the escalation of the conflict so that decisions appropriate only for the final stages of the war may not be made prematurely.

He makes an exception for attacks on Saudi Arabia:

It is necessary for the Mujahideen to target this state so that it remains entangled in its own security problems and is unable to interfere in other fronts such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, (and now Syria) for the Mujahideen have never faced a calamity except that the Saudi royal family had a hand in it.

He also cautions against "media overstretch."

The media is like a windpipe through which the guerilla fighters breathe, and the same is true for their enemy. Guerilla war in its essence is based on gaining legitimacy for the struggle and winning people’s hearts and minds.

...Hence, it is important that the guerilla forces and their leadership address the people according to their level of understanding. They must step up the ante in their media statements in a very gradual manner, considering what is suitable in the situation at hand and taking into account the mental level of the ordinary people. They must reassure the people that their lives and livelihood will be protected. They should avoid meddling in the worldly concerns of ordinary people. The guerilla forces must use assuring words to win the heart of the people, especially the leaders, elders, and decision makers within them. They must address the people in a calculated manner, balancing potential benefit against potential harm.

In what I assume is yet another stab at ISIS, he continues:

Adopting a menacing tone in the media is an example of futile expansion in media activities, especially when the guerilla fighters are still at an early stage in their war. This is even more so the case when they lack the ability to fulfill their promises or follow up their threats with action. As a result, people lose confidence in the guerilla fighters, and thus we fail to neutralize in our war those who could be neutralized, even if temporarily.

It is foolish to challenge everyone to fight the Mujahideen. The life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) teaches us how to neutralize the enemy without necessarily engaging in a fight with him. Threatening words that are not followed by threatening action are damaging because they expose the weakness of the guerillas and their lack of ability to act on their promises. This further bolsters the opponent and creates new enemies for the guerilla fighter which he did not need in the first place.

The tone in the media must be in sync with and proportionate to the actual abilities of the organization, especially when it comes to issuing menacing threats and promising special operations. The guerilla must be like the calm that precedes a storm; his footprints seen, but only at an appropriate time and place, and according to an appropriate plan. Arrogance and false hopes have no place in the heart of someone who wishes to give victory to this religion.

He next warns of overstretching organizational capacity, and over-recruiting:

Among the examples of overstretch that is fatal in guerilla war is overexpansion of organizational activities. This occurs when organizational activities are expanded in disregard of the real capacity of the organization to absorb the effects of an expansion. This includes accepting new recruits into the organizations, and the difficulties in administration, training, capacity building, and provision of arms and security that follow.

The danger in this is that it may lead the organization in a downwards spiral:

This in turn creates hurdles in the movement’s progress. The organization begins a backward slide, differences surface, and fissures appear in the group due to a lack of uniformity within its members and an inability to respond to their needs. This makes the members of the group a burden on it. If this process is accompanied by dwindling or even static financial resources, and lack of an administrative cadre capable of imparting training, the crisis deepens. The situation becomes even more acute when there is a communication gap between the leadership and the cadre.

His conclusion:

The leadership of the Jihad must not be deceived by its capabilities or the number of supporters and allies. This factor, in guerilla wars, is often impermanent. People tend to follow the strong and experience is the best guide. People may become believers during the day and disbelievers and sinners at night. This is more so the case in these turbulent times in which the Jihadi movement is surrounded by conspiracies and intrigues. We ask Allah to ruin the plots of the enemy, make them fall in the traps of their own making, and turn the tide of events against them, for verily He is capable of this.

Finally, the magazine is also a recruitment effort, and calls on Muslims to volunteer.

So don’t delay, and play your part in the Jihad today, whether your part be military, financial, economic, educational, motivational or otherwise. Be patient and resolute, and instill patience and resolve in your brothers, because this war is still in its infancy.