Posted on 11/10/2006 7:23:26 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -
1110dv-alqaida-tape A new recording Friday attributed to the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq mocked President Bush as a coward whose conduct of the war was rejected at the polls, challenging him to keep U.S. troops in the country to face more bloodshed.
"We haven't had enough of your blood yet," taunted terror chieftain Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, identified as the speaker on the tape.
He gloated over Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation, claimed to have 12,000 fighters under his command who "have vowed to die for God's sake," and said his fighters will not rest until they blow up the White House and occupy Jerusalem.
It was impossible to verify the authenticity of the 20-minute recording, posted on a Web site used by Islamic militants. The CIA said technical analysis was being conducted on the tape.
Al-Muhajir, an Egyptian also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, boasted that al-Qaida in Iraq is moving toward victory faster than expected because of Bush's mistakes.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the Bush administration had no comment on the tape.
The tape and its often far-fetched claims came as the U.S. military announced the deaths of five more service members in the 44-month-old conflict, which has grown increasingly unpopular at home. Twenty-six American service members have been killed in Iraq so far this month.
At least 59 Iraqi civilians were killed or found dead Friday as the violence threatens to spiral into all-out civil war. In one of the day's bloodiest incidents, a suicide bomber in an explosives-rigged car killed six Iraqi soldiers he had lured from behind a checkpoint.
Just hours earlier, Iraq's army said it captured the Egyptian leader of an al-Qaida cell in Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold.
The audio message appeared to be an attempt to exact maximum propaganda benefit from the results of Tuesday's midterm elections, in which the Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress, in part because of the war.
Al-Muhajir praised the American people for handing victory to the Democrats, saying: "They voted for something reasonable in the last elections."
He also said Bush was "the most stupid president" in U.S. history.
"We call on the lame duck not to hurry his escape the way the defense secretary did," al-Muhajir said in reference to Rumsfeld's resignation as Pentagon chief on Wednesday.
"Remain steadfast on the battlefield, you coward," said al-Muhajir, who took over leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in June.
"We will not rest from our jihad (holy war) until we are under the olive trees of Rumieh and we have blown up the filthiest house - which is called the White House," al-Muhajir said.
The "olive trees of Rumieh" appeared to be a reference to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, or to Christendom as a continuation of the Roman empire.
Al-Muhajir also told Iraqi Sunnis to ally with a shadowy mini-state that militants claim to have established last month under a man identified as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.
"I vow allegiance to you," he said, addressing al-Baghdadi as the "ruler of believers " and placing al-Qaida in Iraq fighters under his command.
Friday's civilian death toll was little changed from previous days. The United Nations estimates about 100 Iraqis die in violence each day, while Iraq's health minister on Thursday estimated up to 150,000 civilians had been killed in the war - about three times previously accepted estimates of 45,000-50,000.
At least 33 bodies were found Friday, most the victims of roving sectarian death squads that usually torture their victims before shooting them.
Among the latest victims was a Sunni imam, Akram Jassim, 60, gunned down at the front entrance to his mosque in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, said Brig. Abdul Kerim al-Jubori, a spokesman for the provincial police.
Meanwhile, Bush and his national security team will meet Monday with members of a blue-ribbon commission trying to devise a new course for the unpopular war.
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group, led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton of Indiana, is expected to report its recommendations before the end of the year.
Members of the group will have a joint conference at the White House with Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.
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....of course, stupid liberals are only taking this as a sign of how right they are....
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
I think his comment was directed at those who voted for the 'Rats.
Is that right, 353FMG?
Thank you, nutmeg!
Well, at least everyone isn't unhappy with the news of the Democrat victory and the aftermath...
you can never have too much ammo, stock up, I see shortages in the future.
Sounds just like DNC talking points.
Yeah lady, ya just kicked the troops in the nuts and stabbed them in the back. They feel great.
"Remain steadfast on the battlefield, you coward," said al-Muhajir, who took over leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in June.
With any luck, this guy will end up like his predecessor, with a couple of Laser Guided Bombs coming in his bedroom window. Hopefully sooner rather than later. We should target every house, mud hut and sheep pen that *might* be his hiding place.
Ummm, they already have, remember 9-11-01?
By many reports, there are plenty more already here, waiting for their chance. The orders may have already been issued.
Probably want to wait until the "Conclave of Traitors", aka the new Congress, is seated, then hit near, but not too near, them. Watch them pee their pants trying to be the one to author the bill cutting off funding for the war in Iraq, and maybe Afghanistan too.
That is certainly the impression given by the media, the leftwing mouthpieces, and all their evangelists on the street.
Absolutely ridiculous. Moronic democrats are in bed with the enemy as usual. This says it all!
http://www.cafepress.com/titillatingtees.69943803
That was utterly stupid on my part. I did not mean it that way. I'm sorry.
You're right. My sincere apologies. Should have been more careful in my phrasing.
"Al-Muhajir, an Egyptian also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri ..."
Point of history Al. Do you mind if I call you Al?
The reason it's called the White House is because it was painted that color after the British tried to burn it.
This all has a "been there, done that" feel to it, doesn't it, Al?
You know, with plotting, planning, treachery, and subversion, you might get close enough to damage the White House again.
But all the time you are doing that, we could, at any time we want, by just pushing a few buttons, blow up just about anything we want to, from your house to say, some rock in Saudi Arabia.
I'm just saying, is all.
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