August 3, 2009
ZAWAHRI CONTINUES TO POP OFF.... Two months ago, the deputy leader of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, kept up his p.r. campaign against President Obama. He released a message, on the eve of the president's speech in Cairo, urging Muslims to believe that the United States has launched a "war on Islam," and asking Egyptians to reject Obama as a "criminal." (He also hinted that the U.S. president might be a secret Jew, noting Obama's visit to the Wailing Wall in Israel: "[Obama] put on his head the Jew's cap and prayed their prayers, though he claims to be Christian.")
This morning, according to a Reuters report, Zawahri was at it again, this time with a message about a "truce."
Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said an offer the militant group made to the previous U.S. administration of a conditional truce is still on the table for President Barack Obama.
"If Obama wants to (reach) an understanding then he should respond to Sheikh Osama (bin Laden's) two offers," Zawahri said in an interview with al Qaeda's media arm As-sahab, posted on an Islamist website on Monday.
"Obama is trying to sell illusions to the ... weak," Zawahri said of Obama's campaign to ease tension with Muslims increased by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "He is trying to say do not hate us .... but we will continue to kill you..."
There seems to be a pattern with the al Qaeda messages this year: the terrorist network's leaders seem kind of desperate.
Indeed, all of the recent messages point to a larger public-relations panic. Zawahri seemed anxious to convince Muslims how awful Obama is in April, and before that, in February. Every two months, Zawahri pops up again, and each time, his anti-U.S. message seems slightly more ridiculous.
Rita Katz, who created the Site Intelligence Group, a private company that monitors jihadist communications, said earlier this year the terrorist's hysterical rants against the president show "just how much al Qaeda is intimidated by Obama."
—Steve Benen 10:10 AM
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Hmmm...
Replacing Zawahri with GOP we get a "domestic insurgency".
Indeed, all of the recent messages point to a larger public-relations panic. The GOP seemed anxious to convince its base how awful Obama is in April, and before that, in February. Every two months, the GOP pops up again, and each time, its anti-U.S. message seems slightly more ridiculous.
Rita Katz, who created the Site Intelligence Group, a private company that monitors jihadist communications, said earlier this year the GOP's hysterical rants against the president show "just how much the GOP is intimidated by Obama."
Posted by: about time on August 3, 2009 at 10:15 AM | PERMALINK
Secret Communique discovered!
Dear President Obama,
Please senselessly kill a lot of Muslims and say something nasty about the Palestinians. Your muslim name and measured diplomacy are just killing our recruitment numbers. Osama is becoming depressed. He is spending all his time on The Free Republic, which is the only place he can be with people who hate you as much as he does. He mumbles to himself and threatens jihad against Kenya for concealing your birth certificate. He is not even playing World of Warcraft anymore. Please, anything, just a bomb or two, some napalm or chemical weapons would be extra nice, as would child victims, or children crying at the sight of their mothers arm exposed in the rubble. If you do this, I promise to only bomb you a little bit this year. Thank you.
Your friend (and brother),
Ayman al-Zwahiri
Posted by: inkadu on August 3, 2009 at 10:24 AM | PERMALINK
wow! the terrorist criminal seems to not have a good grasp on what some peaceful inter-faith and ecumenical lovin' is...
and
the dude appears to be meglo-maniacally assuming he can talk to obama about a "truce"...
a truce with a bunch of international terrorist criminals?
like the kids say: "i don't think so..."
Posted by: neill on August 3, 2009 at 10:30 AM | PERMALINK
Yes, Bush helped the terrorists' PR because he made us look bad, and also mismanagement of the Iraq war and displacement from Afghanistan helped the Taliban and AQ just when we were winning. The loss to the USA and "the West" is $T+ when all the indirects are weighed.
REM also, those Republicans who said conservatives should "act like the Taliban" in their fight against Obama. I wonder if OBL/UBL (Osama, Usama - a snob appeal distinction?)/Taliban made use of that to show that some Americans actually admired them! And imagine Malkin's and Beck's psychotic breakdowns if Democrats ever talked like that.
Posted by: N e i l B on August 3, 2009 at 10:35 AM | PERMALINK
Dear Mr Zawahri.
We think you're doing great and would like to offer you a job attack Obama on US Healthcare.
Yours truly,
Lobbyists for the Health Insurance Companies of America
Posted by: Former Dan on August 3, 2009 at 10:58 AM | PERMALINK
Dear LHICA,
Thank you for your interest in our services.
I regret to inform you that al-Qaeda strongly supports health care reform. Since Osama has been reading Red State, he is convinced that passing health care reform is the surest way to bring down The Great Satan.
We do, however, have a copy of Obama's long form birth certificate stolen from a vault in Nigeria by one of our operatives. We will be glad to enter negotiations with you for this document once the health care bill is passed.
It is always a pleasure to make common cause with enemies of the United States.
Sincerely,
Ayman al-Zwahiri
P.S. How is Newt? I haven't seen him since our orgy in Saudi. Tell him to drop me a line. -AaZ
Posted by: inkadu on August 3, 2009 at 11:32 AM | PERMALINK
It would be a low blow, but I kind of wish that this post was entitled "AL QAEDA STILL DOESN'T LIKE OBAMA"
(note the post immediately preceding this one)
Posted by: TG Chicago on August 3, 2009 at 11:36 AM | PERMALINK
So Zawahri thinks Obama is a secret Jew, and the American Right think he is a secret Muslim. I think he's a secret Atheist who has to pretend to be Christian to be elected president.
Posted by: kidcharles on August 3, 2009 at 12:42 PM | PERMALINK
The al Qaeda recruitment situation is tough; they probably have a net loss. It's got to be significantly harder to persuade some young dupe to take part in a suicide attack when the new president a) follows through on promises to withdraw from Iraq, b) speaks respectfully to Muslims, publicly acknowledging major U.S. historical mistakes, c) is forceful and direct with Israel about the settlements, to their immediate discomfiture, d) forbids torture, e) has Muslim relatives, and so on.
Compare that with a president who started a war against an Islamic country on a made-up pretext, one who vowed a crusade, and one whose party regularly spoke of "Islamofascists." It's just a question of what is more easy to whip into propaganda.
Posted by: Travis on August 3, 2009 at 1:13 PM | PERMALINK
Do we know where Zawahiri is staying? With whom?
Posted by: MarkH on August 3, 2009 at 9:22 PM | PERMALINK