Posted on 10/06/2005 5:38:22 PM PDT by indcons
The U.S. has obtained a 13-page letter written by Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al Zawahiri, to Abu Musab al Zarqawi in Iraq, outlining with what one senior official calls "chilling clarity" al Qaeda's stretagy for Iraq and beyond, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.
The letter, which was written shortly after the London bombings in July, calls Iraq "the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era."
Zarqawi is America's most-wanted insurgent in Iraq. Zawahiri, the man most intelligence analysts believe is the brains behind bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist organization, is considered the world's second most wanted man.
As outlined by Zawahiri in the letter, al Qaeda's battle plan calls for driving the Americans out of Iraq, establishing an Islamic regime in as much of the country as possible and then extending the holy war to other Arab countries, including Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.
In the letter, Zawahari complains to Zarqawi that some of his violent tactics are hurting public support for al Qaeda's cause, particularly the videotaped beheadings of hostages.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
LOL......FReepers have the best sense of humor. DUmmies should come here to pick up lessons on how to write humorous posts.
PING
You mean the Weekly World News. I remember one front page story about the U.S.Navy catching the Loch Ness monster with a picture of one of the ships that sat across San Diego harbor from me for 2 years holding the monster in a giant cargo net. Hmmm... I must have missed that deployment to Scotland. The "paper" was also a major part of Mike Meyers' "So I Married an Axe Murderer".
The operative sentence:
"As outlined by Zawahiri in the letter, al Qaeda's battle plan calls for driving the Americans out of Iraq, establishing an Islamic regime in as much of the country as possible and then extending the holy war to other Arab countries, including Egypt, Lebanon and Syria."
Driving the US out of Iraq is a demonstration of how powerful Al Qaeda has become, and will instill fear in Islamic rivals while inspiring other radical fundie Moslems to join them in jihad, making their planned takeovers in Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria, etc. all the easier. Note also the curious fact that Syria is one of the countries that is tacitly if not overtly assisting in the resistance in Iraq; why one earth would bin Laden and his merry band of fundies target an ally, you ask? Because Syria is run by Ba'athists; it's a SECULAR state! This is a Holy Civil War, after all, and bin Laden's goal is Islamic Theocracies as far as the eye can see. No room for SECULAR governments, not even Islamic ones.
Notice also Zawahiri's concerns about PR issues -- such as videotaping beheadings and indiscrimant bombings -- being counter productive to winning over public support: "..... saying the Arab man in the street doesn't understand why suicide bombings are killing so many fellow Moslems." This is precisely the concern one would have if one is trying to win the hearts and minds of the Islamic world in order to control it. If they just want to destroy the Great Satan, they would write off the deaths of innocent Moslems as "the price we must pay for Allah's victory."
The overt concern over PR issues -- public perceptions -- is the clue that tells us this IS political theater we are witnessing, with the rest of the Moslem world as the intended audience, courtesy of Al Jezeera TV, et al.
If moderate Moslems have any brains at all, they we see this for what it is: a rare moment in history when the West will be highly motivated to accomodate them in order to defeat the common enemy: the fulminating fundie Islamic movement. They also need to recognize the flip side of this: if they lose and Al Qaeda wins, Taliban-like tyrannies will sprout all over the Middle East, and beyond, and we have already seen how the Taliban treats dissenters in their own midst.
As I see it, the Moderate Moslems are the pivot men in the powerplay: if they look the other way and let bin Laden win, their own necks will eventually get slit. Their only hope is to defeat the fundies and have some sort of open, more free society, and the best way they can get the help they need to defeat bin Laden and his bloodthirsty fundamentalist nutcases is by reaching some sort of accomodation with the West; for example, they get the US and Israel to guarantee an autonomous Palistinian State, while agreeing to liberalizing their own governments (meaning greater personal liberty), and the US and the rest of the Western allies will provide the military hardware, training, funding, manpower, etc. needed to defeat bin Laden.
My guess is that the only way bin Laden gets beaten for good is if his fellow Moslems do it; we probably can't do it alone, as our experience heretofore in Iraq seems to attest. We aren't nearly as blood-thirsty as is required to defeat blood-thirsty fanatics.
This memo appears to be very strong confirmation of what Hitchens has been saying for quite a while now, though I take no pleasure in admitting a raving socialist is right about much of anything. Oh, well; like they say, "even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile....."
Better there than here.
Excellent analysis, longshadow. Very well said.
Thanks!
Dan Rather just called. He says its a fake.
Yeah, but is it an accurate fake?
So true and the real question for the west is how do we get that across to them. How many Moslem fathers and mothers will watch a son, or a relative suddenly disappear and end up dead in jihad. There has to be a public relations pivot point that could hasten that very thought. But how?
Like to see the letter. Bad news for the anti-war lefties, but they'll never admit it.
Bombing top aides and safe houses is working quite well for us. This letter is a good intercept.
Zawahiri can't keep up with current events (and he's not talking about the nightly news) and needs money.
Mmmm...tasty. A supposed "fundamentalist" who needs ca$h...much like the fly-by-night TV preachers of old.
>In either case, these damned fools are consumed by evil, the
>ultimate stupidity, and have repeatedly committed the
>ultimate blasphemy, and they will willingly pay the ultimate
>price by condemning their souls to eternal damnation.
The only eternally unforgivable sin is ...
1) to have looked Jesus Christ in the eye during his ministry
2) to have *known* that He was the Son of God
3) to have called Him demon posessed
Include our enemies such as the Muslims, Communists, and Abortionists, in your prayers. Pray that our elected officials would treat their jobs as those would who know they will have to give account to God on the last day.
I like the part where Zawahiri tells Z man to chill and stop being such a damn drama queen with the execution videos...:-)
If he will send me his physical address, I'll be glad to send him $100 to help with expenses.
I would be happy just to know which country's currency he wants.
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