Skip to comments.
Bin Laden's No. 2 is Al Qaeda's new chief
The LA Times ^
| June 16, 2011
| Ken Dilanian
Posted on 06/17/2011 1:35:15 AM PDT by Pinkbell
In July 2005, Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman Zawahiri sent a long letter to the group's lead operative in Iraq, urging him to tone down his activities.
In Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi had been orchestrating suicide bombings of Shiite Muslim shrines. His followers frequently videotaped the beheading of hostages. Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor who helped organize the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. and other violence, told Zarqawi he was going too far.
"We are in a media battle, in a race for the hearts and minds" of Muslims, wrote Zawahiri, who was named Thursday to succeed Osama bin Laden as Al Qaeda's leader. And most Muslims "will never find [such tactics] palatable."
Zarqawi didn't heed the counsel, and a year later he was killed in a U.S. airstrike, aided by some of his growing number of enemies. If the attempt to rein him in revealed Zawahiri as a canny strategist, it also illustrated how little control Al Qaeda's leaders had over their affiliates even then.
Zawahiri, who has a $25-million American bounty on his head, will be looking to launch a major strike to prove himself and avenge Bin Laden, say U.S. officials and terrorism experts. But he may find the organization even more difficult to manage.
Al Qaeda and its offshoots have further splintered, Zawahiri lacks Bin Laden's charisma, and the U.S. drone campaign in Pakistan, where Zawahiri is presumed to be hiding, will make it more difficult for him to communicate, said Daniel Byman, director of research at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy, a Washington think tank.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 200506; alqaeda; alqueda; alzawahiri; aymanzawahiri; binladen; heartsandminds; napl; osamabinladen; zawahiri
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41 next last
1
posted on
06/17/2011 1:35:19 AM PDT
by
Pinkbell
To: Pinkbell
Bin Laden's No. 2 is Al Qaeda's new chief What a great headline :-)
2
posted on
06/17/2011 1:47:32 AM PDT
by
Bobalu
( "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother." ..Moshe Dayan:)
To: Pinkbell
Calling Seal Team 6. . . . . . . .
3
posted on
06/17/2011 1:51:52 AM PDT
by
DeaconRed
(If I knew then what I know now. I would have studied harder in school. . . . .)
To: Voter#537
Kinda hard to call in Seal Team 6 when the Pakistani informants who helped lead us to Osama are in Pakistani custody. Nice job, Obama. While you were crowing about killing Osama, you no doubt helped reveal the fact that we received help from said informants.
4
posted on
06/17/2011 1:59:44 AM PDT
by
CitizenUSA
(Coming soon...DADT for Christians!)
To: Voter#537
Posted on FR last week, a sign board that said:
Being a terrorist is like a King Salmon.
Life is good, until the SEALS show up!
5
posted on
06/17/2011 2:03:51 AM PDT
by
21twelve
(Obama Recreating the New Deal: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts)
To: Pinkbell
Can you say, “Paint a target on him”?
Because this person is now doomed.
No significant change in status.
6
posted on
06/17/2011 3:18:12 AM PDT
by
alloysteel
("If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.")
To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...
7
posted on
06/17/2011 3:29:35 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
To: Pinkbell
"the attempt to rein [Zarqawi] in revealed Zawahiri as a canny strategist" canny strategist??? It certainly doesn't take much to impress the editors at the LA Times, at least if you are a Muslim.
8
posted on
06/17/2011 3:43:07 AM PDT
by
norwaypinesavage
(Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
To: Pinkbell
Ayman Zawahiri has always been the head of al-Qaeda and Osama bibLaden has always been the pocketbook and figurehead.
Zawahiri’s only change has been to now become the figurehead too
This scumbag needs killing.
9
posted on
06/17/2011 4:25:12 AM PDT
by
BuffaloJack
(In 2012 get rid of Obama and his Empire of Lies.)
To: Slings and Arrows
Do not read this headline.
10
posted on
06/17/2011 7:05:11 AM PDT
by
TheOldLady
(FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list.)
To: TheOldLady; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; Darksheare; OSHA; martin_fierro; ...
Do not read this headline.Eh? Seems perfectly factual to me.
11
posted on
06/17/2011 9:56:28 AM PDT
by
Slings and Arrows
(You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
To: Pinkbell
12
posted on
06/17/2011 10:06:29 AM PDT
by
Slings and Arrows
(You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
To: Pinkbell
If it was the comapny I work for they’d bring in somebody from Hamas or Hezbollah because they never promote from within.
To: Slings and Arrows
I asked you not to read it!!
14
posted on
06/17/2011 10:14:54 AM PDT
by
TheOldLady
(FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list.)
To: SunkenCiv
Pun is in prison? Been banned? What?
15
posted on
06/17/2011 10:16:36 AM PDT
by
TheOldLady
(FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list.)
To: TheOldLady
Pun is in prison? Poor pun.
16
posted on
06/17/2011 12:25:34 PM PDT
by
DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
(Want to make $$$? It's easy! Use FR as a platform to pimp your blog for hits!!!)
To: TheOldLady
Do not read this headline. Sorry. I accidentally read it.
17
posted on
06/17/2011 12:26:31 PM PDT
by
DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
(Want to make $$$? It's easy! Use FR as a platform to pimp your blog for hits!!!)
To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis; Slings and Arrows
It’s okay for you to read it.
Slings and Arrows is the one who shouldn’t. ;-p
18
posted on
06/17/2011 12:53:31 PM PDT
by
TheOldLady
(FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list.)
To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis; SunkenCiv
19
posted on
06/17/2011 12:54:12 PM PDT
by
TheOldLady
(FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list.)
To: TheOldLady
To: TheOldLady
Free me! Free me! Free me!!!!!!!
19½ posted on 6/17/2010 4:02:35 PM EST by Pun (I just wanna be free!)
|
|
To: TheOldLady
Lol. Should we start a free pun campaign?
20
posted on
06/17/2011 1:16:24 PM PDT
by
DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
(Want to make $$$? It's easy! Use FR as a platform to pimp your blog for hits!!!)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson