The coming new wave of jihad

The Boston Globe ^ | March 13, 2006 | Rita Katz

[jmc1969]

ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI has suddenly disappeared. As briskly as he has emerged, the Jordanian who became the undisputed leader of the Iraqi insurgency has descended into obscurity. Where is the man who singlehandedly created from scratch a formidable guerrilla army in occupied Iraq and whom Osama bin Laden called the Emir of Al Qaeda in Iraq?

A year after it assumed the name Al Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers (Iraq), Zarqawi's group took a back seat. In an Internet message posted Jan. 15, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the group's spokesman, announced the establishment of the Mujahideen Shura Council in Iraq, an alliance of six Salafi jihadi groups created to lead the ''fight to face the infidels and their followers of the converters," unify the mujahideen as per Sharia [Islamic law], and ''clear the mist off people's eyes."

After congratulating Zarqawi for his jihad in Iraq, Zawahri described Al Qaeda's plans: ''The jihad in Iraq requires several incremental goals. The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq. The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or emirate . . . a caliphate -- over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraq, i.e., in Sunni areas. The third: Extend the jihad wave. . ."

Zarqawi abdicated his position. He had not intended to remain in Iraq forever anyway; he used Iraq only as a springboard for his long-term goal -- establishment of a global caliphate.

Toward that goal, attacks by Zarqawi's group have expanded beyond Iraq's borders. Zarqawi and his Al Qaeda in Iraq are not gone; they have simply moved to the next stage of their jihad against the West.

[jmc1969]

Ping

[DannyTN]

If you can't accomplish your first goal, declare victory and try something else.

[Cindy]

TerrorTracker.co.uk: "IRAQ JIHADISTS COPY BRITS" -posted by Neil (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Iraqi insurgent groups are basing their tactics on those used by the British to defeat the Nazis in North Africa during World War II, a new document suggests. In a statement titled 'Call for all Mujahideen all over the World', an Iraqi insurgent group says that future operations in Iraq will be based on the tactics used by the British Army to defeat Rommel's Afrika Korps." (March 9, 2006)

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1595344/posts


"al-Sadr blames al-Qaida for Baghdad attack"
AP ^ | March 13, 2006

Posted on 03/13/2006 2:07:21 AM PST by jmc1969

[Cindy]

slightly OFF TOPIC...

JAMESTOWN.org - Terrorism Monitor: "JAPAN: A TARGET FOR AL-QAEDA?" by Guido Olimpio (March 9, 2006) (Read More...)

[Cindy]

slightly Off Topic...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1595303/posts

"Iran urging Islamic Jihad to attack Israel ahead of election"
Haaretz ^ | March 13 2006 | Amos Harel

Posted on 03/12/2006 9:24:43 PM PST by jmc1969

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Bin-Laden-Fan-Clubs-Go-Online/story.xhtml?story_id=022002GFF5Y4

"Bin Laden Fan Clubs Go Online"

March 10, 2006 1:49PM

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Militants are flourishing on Web sites. On Orkut, at least 10 communities are devoted to praising bin Laden, al-Qaeda, or jihad (holy war) against the United States. They can be found easily through a simple English-language search of the site.

Al-Qaeda sympathizers are using Orkut, a popular, worldwide Internet service owned by Google, to rally support for Osama bin Laden, share videos and Web links promoting terrorism, and recruit non-Arabic-speaking Westerners, according to terrorism experts and a survey of the sites.
Most jihadist message boards on traditional Web sites are in Arabic and require users to know someone connected with the board before they can gain access. Social-networking services such as Orkut, Friendster, and MySpace, however, allow users to create personal profiles and associate with "communities" based on shared interests. After users join one of these services, they have access to the forum postings in any public community.

These popular Internet services can be used for everything from publicizing a garage band to finding dates to connecting supporters of democracy -- or terrorism."

ARTICLE SNIPPET #2: "Translated communiques from al-Qaeda in Iraq have been appearing, four or five at a time, on a message board forum within an Orkut community since Dec. 26, Katz says. When al-Qaeda's operation in Iraq officially started calling itself the Mujahedin Shura Council on Jan. 15, she says, updates on the forum reflected the change."

[SkyPilot]

Zarqawi abdicated his position. He had not intended to remain in Iraq forever anyway; he used Iraq only as a springboard for his long-term goal -- establishment of a global caliphate.

In other words, he lost the battle.

Cowards call this a "tactical redeployment."

Most others know it as a Retreat.

[Jazzman1]

Occupied Iraq? I think this line sez it all whose side this 'reporter' is on.

[Southack]

"''Americans will exit soon, Allah willing, and the establishment of a governing authority . . . does not depend on force alone. Indeed, it's imperative that, in addition to force, there be an appeasement of Muslims and a sharing with them in governance and in the Shura [consulting] council and in promulgating what is allowed and what is not allowed . . ."

And by Al Qaeda's own words (above) and actions, we know that this is *not* what is happening (contrary to the writer of the article for this thread).

...because Al Qaeda blew up the Samarra Mosque, killing scores of Muslims in Iraq as recently as February, long after Zawahiri's letter called for Zarqawi to "Appease Muslims" and do "what is allowed" by Islamic Law.

So the writer of this article is full of nonsense. The interesting point, however, is that the anti-war crowd has recognized what we've been saying for more than a month now...that Zarqawi has left Iraq's battlefield.

[Marine_Uncle]

Yep. Zman failed. Though we have to give him credit for trying very hard. I just hope the Iraqi army continues to build in strength and effeciency in such a way they can fully train new recruites, fully supply their ground and air needs, etc.. I do not worry about Syria and or Iran thinking about invading them, because then GWB or the next president if they have the will, yea I know, have the perfect excuse to do a very harsh number on the aggressors. Meanwhile Talabani's will to force all to soon finalize a new gov., now has a red line to meet. They have no excuse.

[attiladhun2]

It says that tempting the enemy into pointless attacks to deplete its ammunition, morale and resources was central to the success of the British
How utterly asinine. The Brits were able to defeat Rommel in N. Africa because the Royal Navy controlled the Med. and Rommel could not adequately resupply his forces. In fact, he relied heavily on captured British equipment. That strategy would definitely work if the "insurgents" could gain control of the sea and the air, but since their "navy" consists of some old tramp steamers and their "air force" is what ever plains they manage to hijack at the moment, that isn't going to happen. Only someone several bricks short of a load would even think the two situation are remotely analogous.