Al Qaida’s Al-Zawahri Disses Bush And The Democrats
Message from Al Qaida’s Number Two In Command to U.S. President George Bush and the Democrats: a pox (perhaps literally — if he gets a chance) on both your houses:
A new video of al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader released on Saturday mocks President Bush and U.S. legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, saying the bill would rob the group’s fighters of the chance to kill more Americans.
Osama bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahri derided the new U.S.-backed Baghdad security plan, recounting an April 12 suicide bombing in Baghdad’s heavily protected Green Zone when an attacker slipped through security and killed a Sunni legislator in the Iraqi parliament’s cafeteria. An al-Qaida-led amalgam of Sunni insurgents in Iraq claimed responsibility.
“And lest Bush worry, I congratulate him on the success of his security plan, and I invite him on the occasion for a glass of juice, but in the cafeteria of the Iraqi parliament in the middle of the Green Zone,†al-Zawahri said…..
….l-Zawahri, shown seated before a bookshelf in a white robe and turban, addresses legislation pushed by Democratic leaders, and vetoed by Bush, that would have required the first U.S. troops in Iraq to be withdrawn by Oct. 1 with a goal of a complete pullout six months later.
“This bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in a historic trap,†al-Zawahri said, according to a transcript released by the monitoring group SITE. The bill is evidence of American “failure and frustration,†he added.
“We ask Allah that they (U.S. troops) only get out of it after losing 200,000 to 300,000 killed, in order that we give the spillers of blood in Washington and Europe an unforgettable lesson,†he said.
Perhaps one significant aspect of this is that contrary to the comments of Bush and some of his associates, this statement doesn’t sound at all as if the terrorists can’t wait until the United States pull out of Iraq. It sounds as if they want to (as usual) increase the body count for a while so they can extract what they perceive to be maximum geopolitical advantage and also undermine the United States. The importance of a large body count is paramount to Al Qaida .
Question: does this statement contain a hint that there could operations on the terrorists’ drawingboard to try and eliminate a larger number of American military? Or is it strictly referring to a long U.S. engagement? OR, is this actually “reverse psychology” — the Al Qaida bigwig sounding like he wants U.S. troops to stay when he really wants them to go?
Look for this statement to be mentioned and quoted by Democrats (on progressive talk and during the Democratic primary debates and perhaps in the Presidential campaign) in the months to come. Regardless of what it really means what Al Qaida’s Number 2 says, it takes the edge off the argument that Al Qaida is clamoring for the U.S. to leave Iraq ASAP.
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11 Responses to “Al Qaida’s Al-Zawahri Disses Bush And The Democrats”
The importance of a large body count is paramount to Al Qaida
No, I don’t think it is. Of course they’d like to slaughter as many American soldiers as they can, but their real purpose for wanting us to stay in Iraq (and, believe me, they want us to stay in Iraq) is twofold:
1. Our presence in Iraq is a mighty recruiting incentive. Osama bin Laden had been saying for years that he wanted to lure a western power into invading a Muslim country.
2. By depleting our military resources and treasure in a fruitless war in Iraq, we’re weakening ourselves as a nation. They see this as parallel to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, which left the USSR in a weakened state and contributed to its eventual downfall.
It’s in al Qaeda’s interest to keep us in Iraq as long as possible. But killing American soldiers isn’t the main objective.
Question: does this statement contain a hint that there could operations on the terrorists’ drawingboard to try and eliminate a larger number of American military?
Um … do you think they *aren’t* planning that? That’s kind of what war is.
I wish people would stop paying these videos any heed, instead of letting them serve AQ’s purpose.
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First: what maha said, who is rapidly establishing herself (himself?) as one of the most incisive voices in the blogosphere, specious defenses of moral relativism notwithstanding. (couldn’t resist that)
I’m sure we’ll see it as much if not more from the right, as they engage in the al-Qaeda kremlinology that they love so much (‘al-Qaeda knows we can’t take them at face value, so their actual meaning is the exact opposite of the explicit meaning’ and so on and so on).
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The only thing that I think we can know for certain from these propaganda videos and tapes is that from their caves these al Qaeda leaders are obviously following US domestic politics and finding ways to exploit the differences in viewpoints among US voters.
And unfortunately, some here seem to want to play right into their strategy to divide us from within. Maybe it is time to remember who the real enemy is? Let the experts analyze the tapes to see if they’ve inadvertantly tipped their hand on either their location or their plans, and otherwise let’s understand what they want (to divide public opinion here even further) and do the opposite.
See, I don’t think letting al-Qaeda determine our foreign policy for us is a good move. It seems axiomatic to me that, instead, we should determine our interests and then act on that.
Zawahiri’s message is a taunt, nothing more. It was recorded from the safety of another country, 100′s of miles away from the danger zone.
Of course he wants us to waste our time on a mission that’s become a rallying cry for the entire Arab world against the United States, instead of chasing him down in his bunker and destroying his organization.
It’s been the Republicans who’ve repeatedly used these messages.
From Judd Gregg last September, (while defending Don Rumsfeld)
If your enemy keeps playing you for a fool, and you keep acting like one, why should the rest of us unite behind your “brilliant” strategy?
“1. Our presence in Iraq is a mighty recruiting incentive. Osama bin Laden had been saying for years that he wanted to lure a western power into invading a Muslim country.
2. By depleting our military resources and treasure in a fruitless war in Iraq, we’re weakening ourselves as a nation. They see this as parallel to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, which left the USSR in a weakened state and contributed to its eventual downfall”
Yes very well put, maha- it is what I have been arguing all along- especially the second point. I have never heard the second point discussed by anyone from the administration. Nor have they ever admitted the folly of the invasion of Iraq by our predecessors, the British, at the end of WWII. The British occupied Iraq for 12 long years, sustaining high costs and high casualty rates. They tried to establish Democratic institutions, but were totally unsuccessful. They finally withdrew, and the country eventually devolved into total autocracy, as it was under Saddam.
why is this clown still around?
hmmm, maybe it’s because OBL and his 2nd aren’t a priority…even though cutting the head off a snake might deter a few suicide bombers…or break a significant chain in the information channel.
we’ve been suckered in by these guys and the Bush admin is too stupid to realize it, or can’t admit a mistake.