`  == Walayah = State ==  I'm not an expert in Arabic by any means, but my Arabic profssor said, unequivocally, that the use of the word ``Walayah`` could, in no way, be confused with the term ``nation,`` especially in the formal Arabic that OBL uses in his messages. In addition, the Hans Wehr Arabic dictionary defines the term as ``administrative district headed by a vali, vilayet (formerly, uner the Ottoman Empire(; province (=division of a country, e.g., Tunisia, Algeria); sovereign state (in a federal union)`` Also, it should be noted that the full name of the United States of America uses the plural form of ``Walayah.`` As far as I can tell, it is agreed upon that OBL was referring to states as individuals and NOT as nations in that particular speech and I feel that this should be noted.`