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| Iraq |
| From Ayman to Zarq With Love - Full July 9 Letter Contents |
| 2005-10-12 |
| A senior American intelligence official said Tuesday that a document obtained this summer by American forces in Iraq had provided the United States with "a comprehensive view of Al Qaeda strategy in Iraq and beyond" and a revealing glimpse into "the intentions of the enemy." A complete version of the 6,000-word document, a letter in Arabic from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No. 2 leader in Al Qaeda, to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the group's top agent in Iraq, was made available Tuesday for the first time. In it, Mr. Zawahiri told Mr. Zarqawi that the American occupation of Iraq had provided Islamic militants with a historic opportunity to win popular support. "Our planning must strive to involve the Muslim masses in the battle, and to bring the mujahed movement to the masses and not conduct the struggle far from them," Mr. Zawahiri said in the letter, dated July 9. Officials at the Defense Department and other government agencies first disclosed the existence of the letter last week, but at the time agreed to release only three sentences. In releasing the full text on Tuesday, in Arabic and English, the office of John D. Negroponte, the new director of national intelligence, took the extraordinary step of posting it on his office's Web site, www.dni.gov. The letter, written in calm, sophisticated language, included injunctions to Mr. Zarqawi to keep in mind the political as well as the military aims of the anti-American insurgency in Iraq, where Mr. Zarqawi leads the group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. The senior American intelligence official said a comprehensive review had left no doubt that it was sent by Mr. Zawahiri, an Egyptian physician who has served as Al Qaeda's principal strategist. The letter alluded to difficulties facing Al Qaeda's leaders, including what Mr. Zawahiri calls "the real danger" posed by the Pakistani military in its searches for militants in northwestern Pakistan, near the Afghan border, where Mr. Zawahiri and Al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, are believed to be hiding. Full 13-page letter available at link |
| Posted by:Captain America |
| #6 Upstaged by a sociopath's sociopath who seems not to have read, understood or agreed with the AQ gameplan/masterplan. It's gotta hurt after all the effort OBL and sidekick Ayman put into the grandiose PR efforts. Brother can you spare 75 cents please I gotta get my sat phone turned back on to stay in the game. |
| Posted by: MunkarKat 2005-10-12 14:04 |
| #5 What I find most informative is him stateing(in around about way),several times,just how isolated he is. |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-10-12 13:24 |
| #4 I really like the part where Ayman has to hit up Zarq for $100,000. Priceless. Also, boo hoo hoo about his wife and kids. Payback is a bitch, huh, Ayman. Unfortunately, it seems that he has a back up breeder and has already cranked out another little bomb guidance system, er child. And Ayman, if you don't want to see your little family tragedy replayed within the 5 PSI overpressure line (prolly the 2 PSI o/p line given third world construction methods) a few hundred million times over, then you might want to think about ending all of these little jihadi games. After hanging around Rantburg these last few years, me thinks that the real reason that Ayman is upset over Zarq's tactics is that Zarq is now getting the full advantage of the Golden Chain while Ayman is whithering on the vine. I honestly don't think Ayman could give a damn otherwise. Interesting that Ayman is having to justify his existence to Zarq (I published all these tapes and articles, really Zarq) rather than the other way around. In fact, in the letter, Ayman practically annoints Zarq as Caliph. I think that Binny is dead. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2005-10-12 09:10 |
| #3 Seems like a repost to me, my comments therefore are a repost of the other thread's. What I find interesting is that al-Zarqawi is chided by al-Zawahiri for (allegedly? apparently?) being "deceived by the praise of some of the zealous young men and their description of you as the shaykh of the slaughterers, etc. They do not express the general view of the admirer and the supporter of the resistance in Iraq." Should I take this to mean that al-Zarqawi not only has his own autonomous outfit riding al-Qaida's coattails (hence the name "al-Qaida in Iraq") but is surrounded by yes-men? This might explain why al-Zawahiri sounds to me borderline reverential towards al-Zarqawi, emphasizing that al-Zarqawi is the man on the ground and begging for "from the front" news... which in turn might say a lot about al-Zawahiri's own level of communications and ability to network. Oh, and two questions about al-Zawahiri's lengthy 'discussion' of the Shia question: #1: "Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib, may God honor him" The heck, what's a Wahhabist saying this for??? #2: Is it just me, or does he make al-Zarqawi's fatwas look schizophrenic by covering all the bases in that big, question-filled paragraph? By #2, I mean al-Zarqawi's flip-flopping on the Tater Tots... |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2005-10-12 08:33 |
| #2 Here is the link to the letter in case you don't want to click through the NYT (flash ad) and DNI (not immediately apparent where the letter is) websites. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2005-10-12 08:21 |
| #1 Ixnay on the Illing-kay the Ia-shay, and PS send money soon. Yeah, sounds calm and sophisticated to me. This is priceless. A letter from a beaten man. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2005-10-12 01:01 |