Iraqi terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is reported to have posted an audio address to his Osama bin Laden on Monday telling him that he’s OK after being wounded in a fire fight with U.S. troops.
This AGAIN points out the caution citizens, policymakers, and the military need to exercise in taking unconfirmed website reports as truth. The last big story about al-Zarqawi that quoted a website as say he had been wounded and whisked out of Iraq made it sound as if he was seriously wounded.
This time, the AP reports:
There was no way to confirm that the voice was that of Jordanian-born terror leader al-Zarqawi. However, the recording was carried by a Web site frequently used by militant Islamic groups, and the voice sounded similar to that previously attributed to al-Zarqawi.
That lends it CREDIBILITY — but we still do NOT have a CONFIRMED report. And the statement itself? It’s this:
“I am sure you have heard through the media that I was wounded and treated in a Ramadi hospital. I would like to assure you and the Muslim nation that these were pure allegations. It was a light wound, thank God. We are back fighting them in the land of the two rivers.”
The speaker addressed the message as “a letter from a soldier on the firing line to his commander.”
The speaker purporting to be al-Zarqawi addressed bin Laden as his “emir,” or commander, asked bin Laden for guidance on conducting the insurgency. He said he sent bin Laden a war plan and asked for comments or approval.
Al-Zarqawi also claimed that his insurgent followers had won this month’s bloody battle against U.S. troops at the town of Qaim near the Syrian border.
“It was one of the greatest battles of Islam,” the speaker said. “We would like to assure you that we are continuing on the path of jihad, we are committed to our pledge. We will either win or die trying.”
Does the use of a website mean that al-Zarqawi is locked up somewhere and unable to communicate with his boss unless it’s over the Internet? MORE:
The recording posted Monday followed previous Internet postings saying the Jordanian was in good health and had returned to lead insurgent attacks in Iraq after being wounded.
On May 24, a statement allegedly by al-Zarqawi’s group said al-Zarqawi had been injured, without saying how or when. A U.S. official said the injury claim could be purposely misleading.
In October 2004, an Internet statement said al-Zarqawi’s group declared allegiance to al-Qaeda and “father of all fighters” or bin Laden. Known then as Tawhid and Jihad — Arabic for “monotheism and holy war,” the group later changed its name to al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The bottom line: this sounds like him, it is likely to be him but this is NOT 100 percent confirmation that it is him. On the other hand, if it’s true it IS him, then the use of the Internet suggests he’s unable to contact bin Laden via other means.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.