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Those statements are absolutely delusional. I don't care who made them. Maybe he was put up to it. There is a reason why Rumsfeld is loathed.

That's like saying that even though the President's poll numbers are the lowest in his term, lower than Clinton's during impeachment, and now within a stone's throw of all-time lows (Truman and Nixon), and Congressional disapproval ratings are even worse than right before the 1994 landslide that ended 60 years of democrat rule in the House (59-40 Americans now want a Democrat Congress), that because Cynthia McKinney's race-baiting tactics backfire on her, that democrats as a whole have suffered a strategic defeat.

That's some serious "spin".

I think maybe the General needs to call the "home office" and "coordinate" his story.

If for some bizarre reason there actually is a justification to "spin", then at least everyone should be on the same sheet of music.

Al Qaeda cannot simultaneously be leaving Iraq in "strategic defeat" while also being "real threats" that are "ruthlessly devastating" to the people of Iraq and the region. Gen. Lynch's remarks below (dated Monday) are more accurate.

That being said, al Qaeda is shifting its focus. But not because it is failing to achieve its strategic goals.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2006/20060410_4774.html

Zarqawi, al Qaeda Threaten Iraq, Military Spokesman Says
By Steven Donald Smith
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2006 – A senior military spokesman in Baghdad today dismissed as untrue a U.S. newspaper article claiming the U.S. military launched a propaganda campaign to exaggerate terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's significance in Iraq to turn Iraqis against him and sway American public opinion.

"A recent article citing a military briefing from 2004 has called into question the threat that Abu Musab Zarqawi and al Qaeda in Iraq pose to Iraq, dismissing it as 'propaganda' - nothing could be further from the truth," Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said in a written statement rebutting today's Washington Post story.

Zarqawi and al Qaeda in Iraq have openly declared war on the democratic process in Iraq and are responsible for the overwhelming majority of suicide attacks against the Iraqi people, Lynch said.

In addition, statements made by Zarqawi over the past year attest to the threat and the indiscriminate nature of his attacks, he said.

"He has called for foreign fighters to come to Iraq and join the jihad; stated that in order to kill infidels it is acceptable to kill women and children in the attacks; declared 'all-out' war against the Shiia and told other religious and tribal groups to join his anti-government cause or face attacks; and has called for increased attacks during Ramadan in order to secure victory and to establish a Muslim nation in Iraq," Lynch said.

The general went on to say that Zarqawi and al Qaeda in Iraq might represent a relatively small portion of the overall insurgency, but their impact has been ruthlessly devastating.

"The terrorists and foreign fighters that he recruits, trains and equips carry out more than 90 percent of the insidious suicide attacks against the men, women and children of Iraq - attacks that have killed or injured thousands of Iraqis in the last year alone," he said.

Lynch cited a letter from Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to Zarqawi, which clearly outlines al Qaeda's goal of becoming the dominant influencing power throughout the Middle East, as proof of their intent.

"Make no mistake, (Zarqawi) and al Qaeda in Iraq are real threats to the citizens, security and stability of Iraq, and we continue to conduct aggressive operations to eliminate the threat they pose not only to Iraq, but also to the rest of the region," Lynch said.

The Shura Council may be supplanting Zarqawi's political leadership. But it demonstrates that the al Qaeda plan set out by UBL (several years ago calling for such a council to be formed at some point on "liberated" Islamic land) is succeeding and allowing them to "go west"

As the home-grown Iraqi insurgency stands up, al Qaeda will stand down.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060403/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_zarqawi;_ylt=AtHBh.EuZ_6ilJ9_9NqhKfpvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

Claim Raises Speculation About al-Zarqawi
By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press WriterMon Apr 3, 1:40 PM ET

Terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has sharply lowered his profile in recent months, halting his group's Internet claims as the number of big suicide bombings in Iraq — his infamous signature form of attack — has fallen.

Now, a man with close ties to Iraqi insurgent groups claims al-Zarqawi was shunted aside as political leader of a recently formed coalition of militants because they were angry at his propaganda efforts and embarrassed by his group's deadly attack on hotels in Jordan.

But others caution that the claim is hard to verify — and that perhaps the insurgents are just changing tactics.

Even if the report is true and al-Zarqawi has a lesser role, that does not mean the deadly violence in Iraq will decrease, Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, Iraq's deputy Interior minister for intelligence affairs, said Monday.

"Al-Zarqawi or others have a terror agenda against the Iraqi people. This will not change by changing names and people. They will push ahead with their agenda," Kamal said in a telephone interview.

In Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, said the report about al-Zarqawi was "nothing we can verify."

Some experts have long cautioned that al-Zarqawi's role may have been exaggerated and that some of the attacks claimed by his group — or that U.S. and Iraqi officials blamed on him — may have been carried out by others.

Iraq's insurgency has always been made up of several disparate groups, and some of them, including Ansar al-Sunnah Army and the Islamic Army of Iraq, have been nearly as violent as al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq.

The Jordanian-born militant, however, seized most of the attention because of his relentless Internet propaganda efforts, the brutality of his attacks — including hostage beheading videos put on the Web — and a series of suicide car bombings that targeted mostly Shiites.

Then came a November triple suicide bombing against hotels in Jordan that killed 63 people, mostly Arab Muslims. That sparked a backlash against al-Zarqawi in Jordan, where there had been some sympathy for the insurgency. Even some fellow militants called for halting attacks on civilians.

In January, al-Zarqawi's group said in a Web statement that it had joined five other Iraqi insurgent groups to form the Mujahedeen Shura Council, or Consultative Council of Holy Warriors. Since then, al-Zarqawi's group has stopped issuing its own statements, a sharp contrast to its previous frequent postings, and al-Zarqawi has not issued a Web audiotape since January.

Instead, the Shura Council has put out daily statements listing its "operations" — including bombings of U.S. Humvees and trucks, shootings of Iraqi Shiite security forces and assassinations of Sunni Arabs cooperating with the government.

On Sunday, Huthayafa Azzam, believed to have close ties to Iraqi militants, told The Associated Press that al-Zarqawi had been confined to a military role within the coalition, specifically barred from making public statements and from any political or propaganda role.

It was not clear how Azzam, a son of one of Osama bin Laden's spiritual mentors, had learned the information, which could not be independently verified. The claim by Azzam, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, could also simply be a sign of squabbling among insurgent factions.

Azzam said Iraqis in the Shura Council had demanded al-Zarqawi give up his political role — particularly in propaganda — because he had "embarrassed" them with beheading videos and statements about regional politics and al-Qaida's activities. Azzam said al-Zarqawi agreed and "pledged not to target Iraq's neighbors, mainly his native Jordan, because that has harmed the Iraqi resistance's relations with the Arab world."

The political duties were handed over two weeks ago to the council head, an Iraqi called Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi, said Azzam.

Kamal, the deputy Iraqi interior minister, said officials do believe there have been meetings in the last few months between al-Zarqawi's group and other groups, to unify efforts. He called it possible, but unknown, if those groups had rearranged their ranks and given al-Zarqawi a different assignment.

"After the losses they suffered in the west of Iraq and the popular anger against their presence, they could be trying to find an Iraqi facade," he said, noting al-Zarqawi's Jordanian nationality.

Kamal said he did not recognize the name of the supposed new political leader, Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi, and that it was probably a pseudonym.

In the past few months, the number of multiple-death car bombings in Iraq — many of them suicide attacks — has dropped dramatically in a possible sign of either al-Zarqawi's waning influence or a simple change in tactics.

Such bombings, identified with al-Zarqawi but also carried out by other groups, reached a high of 136 a month last May but fell to just 30 in December, 30 in January and 22 in February, according to statistics compiled by the Brookings Institution in Washington.

In contrast, the number of overall bombings, which also includes roadside bombs, is still running at high levels.

The U.S. military has attributed the drop in car bombs to its efforts to destroy several car bomb-making centers between Baghdad and the Syrian border.

___

Associated Press reporters Mariam Fam in Baghdad, Iraq, and Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2006/april/04_06_3.html

ZARQAWI MOVES INTO PA ARENA

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Al Qaida network chief Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi has lowered his profile in Iraq to focus on operations in the Levant.

Western intelligence sources said Al Zarqawi has increased activities in such countries as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority. They said Al Zarqawi has sought to lay the groundwork for an Islamic war against Israel.

"Zarqawi is very busy these days," an intelligence source said. "But his attention is moving from Iraq to the Gaza Strip."

The sources said Al Zarqawi has been forming ties with Palestinian insurgents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They said Al Zarqawi has begun to cooperate with the head of the military wing of Hamas, Mohammed Deif. They said that in 2006, about a dozen Al Qaida operatives entered the Gaza Strip to form cells. . .