Thanks, Fritz. It's exactly the same as what bin Laden spelled out in his
1996 Fatwa, when we first got a glimpse at al Qaeda's plans for the region:
" I would like here to alert my brothers, the Mujahideen, the sons of the
nation, to protect this (oil) wealth and not to include it in the battle as
it is a great Islamic wealth and a large economical power ESSENTIAL FOR THE
SOON TO BE ESTABLISHED ISLAMIC STATE, by Allah's Permission and Grace. "
snip
" Nevertheless, it must be obvious to you that, due to the imbalance of
power between our armed forces and the enemy forces, a suitable means of
fighting must be adopted i.e using fast moving light forces that work under
complete secrecy. In other word to initiate a guerrilla warfare, were the
sons of the nation, and not the military forces, take part in it. "
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terroris...atwa_1996.html
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The Zawahiri letter is pretty strong evidence that the news media
has
it
wrong. We *are* winning the war on terror. And Bush's poll
numbers
will
reflect that in the coming 12 months.
Bush's poll numbers may well go up again. At one time he had 80-90%
approval ratings (when he retaliated against the Taliban for 9-11).
Clarification:
We retaliated against the Taliban for harboring those responsible for
9/11.
He
still had just over half the country either fooled (or too scared of
Kerry) and willing to vote for him just a year ago. There's no limit
to
what some clever packaging and a good PR campaign can sell in this
country.
Forget about winning the war on terror. That's as hopeless as trying
to
instill civil discourse in a NG, and for many of the same reasons.
Few
of the little ****-ant countries in the world can hope to match the
(perceived) military might of the US.
Perceived?
Toe-to-toe conventional military engagements we can typically win
with
our superior technology. Some people with a grievance will strike
back
with whatever is at hand, and sometimes that's nothing more
elaborate
than a crude bomb and a suicide attack.
As long we continue to act the "ugly American" and are increasingly
hated around the world, as long as people like the PNAC group that
currently occupies some of the highest offices in the country view
the
rest of the planet as America's political and economic "colony" to
use
as we see fit, we will continue to create terrorists faster than we
can
kill them.
Even *if* you destroy Al Qaida, that doesn't win the war on
terrorism.
If we had nuked Colombia, would that have ended the traffic in
illegal
drugs?
From Colombia, yes.
Beware an Al Qaida on the ropes........more dangerous/desperate now
than ever.
So just when we have them on the ropes, we should withdraw our troops
from
the region and let them regroup...in the hope that they'll leave us
alone
once they're less "desperate"?
The main assets of Al Qaida are not in Iraq.
Why would you waste your best assets in a hopeless fight against the US
military?
Then why do you posit that al Qaeda is "on the ropes"?
Al Qaeda doesn't have "best assets". They have terrorists who are
willing
to blow themselves up to kill infidels. Those terrorists are from all
over
the Middle East, but are being drawn to Iraq like flies on ****.
The decisive battle of this whole mess was Tora Bora and we let in
Ladin escape
when we sent in our "allies", the Pakistanis, to root him out.
If the Pakistanis: a) didn't have nukes, or b) didn't hold the land that
we
needed to fly over in order to reach Afghanistan, they wouldn't be our
"allies".
What Al Qaeda really wants......................from the "THE ZAWAHIRI
LETTER"
"C-If our intended goal in this age is the establishment of a caliphate in
the manner of
the Prophet and if we expect to establish its state
predominantly-according
to how it
appears to us-in the heart of the Islamic world, then your efforts and
sacrifices-God
permitting-are a large step directly towards that goal.
So we must think for a long time about our next steps and how we want to
attain it, and
it is my humble opinion that the Jihad in Iraq requires several
incremental
goals:
The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq.
The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or amirate, then develop
it
and support
it until it achieves the level of a caliphate- over as much territory as
you
can to
spread its power in Iraq, i.e., in Sunni areas, is in order to fill the
void
stemming
from the departure of the Americans, immediately upon their exit and
before
un-Islamic
forces attempt to fill this void, whether those whom the Americans will
leave behind
them, or those among the un-Islamic forces who will try to jump at taking
power.
There is no doubt that this amirate will enter into a fierce struggle with
the foreign
infidel forces, and those supporting them among the local forces, to put
it
in a state
of constant preoccupation with defending itself, to make it impossible
for
it to
establish a stable state which could proclaim a caliphate, and to keep the
Jihadist
groups in a constant state of war, until these forces find a chance to
annihilate them.
The third stage: Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries
neighboring
Iraq.
The fourth stage: It may coincide with what came befo the clash with
Israel, because
Israel was established only to challenge any new Islamic entity. "
http://www.dni.gov/letter_in_english.doc