Al Qaeda leaders letter: "prolonging the war is in our interest"

[sabra]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1006/p01s04-woiq.htm

How Al Qaeda views a long Iraq war
A letter from Al Qaeda leaders found in Iraq shows that the group sees the war as a boon for its cause.

In appearances across the US, President Bush has been campaigning against withdrawing troops from Iraq, arguing that to leave now would hand a historic victory to Al Qaeda and inspire new generations of jihadists to attack the US.

But a letter that has been translated and released by the US military indicates that Al Qaeda itself sees the continued American presence in Iraq as a boon for the terror network, which has recently shown signs of expanding into the Palestinian territories and North Africa.

"The most important thing is that the jihad continues with steadfastness ... indeed, prolonging the war is in our interest," says the writer, who goes by the name Atiyah. The letter, released last week, was recovered in the rubble of the Iraqi house where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, former leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed by a US bomb in June.

If the letter is accurate, it provides a window into the group's strategic thinking on Iraq that differs starkly from the one the Bush administration has been expressing publicly - a view the president reiterated Wednesday when he said that Al Qaeda believes that "America is weak, and if they can kill enough innocent people we'll retreat. That's precisely what they want."

[TahitiNut]

1. Junior/Cheney/Rummy was the best thing that ever happened to Al Qaeda

They've probably increased recruiting at least a thousand-fold.

[tjwash]

2. And vice-versa

[htuttle]

3. Yes, but...

...BushCo's recruiting definitely has NOT increased a thousand-fold.

[Dhalgren]

5. And isn't it interesting that it is the US military who found and

released this "letter". Maybe the Army is getting sick and tired of dying for Bush's poll numbers...

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. It's in bu$hco's interests, also. More war profits and power.

[Gabi Hayes]

6. thanks for the reminder: Robert Parry has a story along these lines.

hold on a minute, and I'll see where it is.

they NEED us to be there to keep recruitment up; they're foundering otherwise, and if we leave, their support in Iraq will disappear.

that was one of the main points in the story

[Gabi Hayes]

7. Al Qaeda's Fragile Foothold

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/100306.html



......Without the U.S. military presence to serve as a rallying cry and a unifying force, the al-Qaeda contingent faced disintegration from desertions and attacks from Iraqi insurgents who resented the wanton bloodshed committed by Zarqawi’s non-Iraqi terrorists. The “Zawahiri letter,” which was dated July 9, 2005, said a rapid American military withdrawal could have caused the foreign jihadists, who had flocked to Iraq to battle the Americans, to simply give up the fight and go home.

“The mujahaddin must not have their mission end with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq, and then lay down their weapons, and silence the fighting zeal,” said the “Zawahiri letter,” according to a text released by the office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.

‘Still Weak’

The “Atiyah letter,” which was discovered by U.S. authorities at the time of Zarqawi’s death on June 7, 2006, and was translated by the U.S. military’s Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, also stressed the vulnerability of al-Qaeda’s position in Iraq and the need to mend fences.

“Know that we, like all mujahaddin, are still weak,” Atiyah told Zarqawi. “We have not yet reached a level of stability. We have no alternative but to not squander any element of the foundations of strength or any helper or supporter.”

The letter strongly cautioned Zarqawi “against attempting to kill any religious scholar or tribal leader who is obeyed, and of good repute in Iraq from among the Sunnis, no matter what. … “The long and short of the matter is that the Islamic theologians are the keys to the Muslim community and they are its leaders. This is the way it is, whether you like it or not. … If you appear before the community in the guise of a pariah to the class of religious scholars, contradicting them, disrespecting them, and insulting them, then you will lose the people and you will fail in any call or political act. It is highly advisable to be polite and to show complete respect, regret, compassion, and mercy and so forth. You must incline yourself to this, and be humble to the believers, and smile in people’s faces, even if you are cursing them in your heart, even if it has been said that they are ‘a bad tribal brother,’ and what have you.”

Beyond the significance of Atiyah’s wish for a “prolonged” war, the letter underscores how tenuous al-Qaeda’s position in Iraq has been, especially when contrasted with Bush’s alarmist rhetoric about a smashing al-Qaeda victory if the U.S. military withdraws. Indeed, the “Atiyah” and “Zawahiri” letters suggest that one of al-Qaeda’s biggest fears is that the United States will pull out of Iraq before the terrorist organization has built the necessary political infrastructure to turn the country into a future base of operations.

[sabra]

8. thank you for this...

[frylock]

9. this just in from the no shoot, sherlock desk

[raysr]

10. That's how Reagan helped

bankrupt the USSR in Afganistan. They'll do the same to us, bleed us to death finacially.