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Tue. Dec 28, 2004

Al Qaeda in Iraq

Osama bin Laden has gotten quite verbose on us of late, and has supposedly released yet another audio tape. And this one hugs the murderous Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi to his breast like a mother does an infant.

The voice on the tape described al-Zarqawi as the “emir,” or prince, of al-Qaida in Iraq and said Muslims there should “listen to him.”

The man speaking on the tape also referred to an October statement in which al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, declared allegiance to bin Laden and changed his group’s name to al-Qaida in Iraq.

The speaker also said he was “pleased” with al-Zarqawi’s “gallant operations” against the Americans and interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s “apostate government.”

Boston Herald: “Bin Laden endorses al-Zarqawi as his deputy in Iraq”

The speaker failed to mention if he was also “pleased” by the car bombs set off outside mosques, or the other attacks al-Zarqawi’s thugs have made killing hundreds of innocent Iraqis, in a failed effort to set off sectarian violence. But one would assume it pleases Osama greatly, given how he further tips his hand by ordering Iraqis to boycott the upcoming election.

“In the balance of Islam, this constitution is infidel and therefore everyone who participates in this election will be considered infidels,” he said. “Beware of henchmen who speak in the name of Islamic parties and groups who urge people to participate in this blatant apostasy.”

He apparently was referring to Shiite clerics, particularly Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who have issued edicts saying participating in the election was a “religious duty.”

Wow, talk about severe projection of your own shortcomings onto others. Here we have a man with absolutely no formal religious training whatsoever, saying that the most revered and senior cleric in Iraq, a man with decades of experience and one of only four Grand Ayatollahs … is a “henchman” engaged in “blatant apostasy”? Osama sees a mirror, and thinks it is a window into someone else.

Osama says that Iraqis who vote in this election are “infidels,” while Grand Ayatollah Sistani says it’s their “religious duty” to go vote. There could hardly be greater evidence of how much of the “War on Terror” is really a civil war within Islam.

It’s also further evidence that Osama is trying to alter his “rep.” Rather than be perceived as the leader of a terrorist group, he now wants to be seen in a more political vein, as an Islamic leader, and potential Caliph (in his dreams). Yet to do so, he must face comparisons with men like Ayatollah Sistani, who has prevailed in most every conflict and gotten almost everything he desires since Saddam was toppled. He has done so without constant self-promotion, without a masked militia or bomber cadre, and indeed, has constantly called for an end to all of the violence.

Osama once said that the people will favor the strong horse, and in this case, for a year now Sistani has shown he’s the strongest horse in Iraq. When the turnout in the election is 75-80%, as I think it will be, that will show us exactly how strong a horse bin Laden … isn’t.

Because Osama knows, the bottom line is that any time people go to the polls, Al Qaeda loses. Any time Muslims express free will in choosing those who lead them, Al Qaeda loses. Big time. Americans who for some reason fear any form of Islamic government coming to power in Iraq need to remember that.

Naming the murderous Zarqawi an Al Qaeda “prince” and calling those who vote “infidels” are the pleas of a desperate and small man, one who deep down sees his limitations. You should, too. Given the tens of thousands of victims around the Indian Ocean today, it’s good to keep perspective. Al Qaeda is still a threat, one to be watched closely and dealt with harshly. But Mother Nature makes Al Qaeda look like kindergartners.

And in the name of trying to moderate the well-established world-wide perception of him, Osama broadcasts his relative impotence with each new missive that attempts to paint him as some kind of “leader.” But what does he have to offer the average Iraqi? Only regular bloodbaths from Zarqawi, and the label of “infidel,” if they don’t believe exactly as he does and follow his will. Otherwise he says they are allying themselves with “henchmen” engaged in “blatant apostasy.”

So keep the tapes coming, Osama. Keep pounding home exactly where the lines are drawn.