The IntelCenter, an internet monitoring group in the United States, has produced an interesting timeline for the attack on the Danish embassy in Pakistan, which I adapt below.

Blast outside Danish Embassy, Islamabad, June 2, 2008.

Act One – The "Injustice"

This happened on February 13th when a number of Danish newspapers re-printed some of the controversial cartoons of Mohammed.

Act Two – The Warning

A month later, on March 19th, Osama bin Laden mentioned the cartoons in an audio message. He said, "If there is no check on the freedom of your words, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions. The answer is what you see, not what you hear."

Act Three – The Attack

A little under eleven weeks later, on June 2nd, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at the gates of the Danish Embassy in Islamabad. Eight people were killed.

Act Four – The Claim of Responsibility

This followed within two days. On June 4th, in a written statement, al-Qaeda leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid quoted bin Laden's words from March, and said the attack was "in revenge for what Denmark has published: the insulting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed."

Act Five – The Martyrdom Video

Three months later, on September 4th, Al Qaeda's media operation, As Sahab released a video on the internet called, "The Word is the Word of the Swords." A man identified as Saudi is shown next to a car packed with explosives. He tells the camera, "My final message to the worshippers of the cross in Denmark is that, God permitting, this is not the first or the last act of revenge."

It would be unwise to see this as any sort of fixed template for AQ atrocities, but it's a good example of how the group communicates and the tempo at which it operates.