The new Zawahiri tape has been delivered, broadcast and is being scrutinized by intelligence officials. Zawahiri says United States President George W. Bush is a "deceitful charlatan" and says "be aware that the liberation of our captives is a debt on our shoulders which we must fulfill, with Allah's help and power".
He questions his motives for initating the War in Iraq, ridiculing the false prexets under which it was conducted. To this end he cites the purported links of Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda, and the presence of weapons of mass destruction. He also addresses the capture of Khalid Shaikh Muhammad and questions that if it helped in the "war on terror" then “why are your troops retreating in secrete from the south and east of Afghanistan?... Bush...be aware that the liberation of our captives is a debt on our shoulders which we must fulfill”. Other individuals who have been captured, such as Ramzi Yusef, Omar Abdul Rahman (the "Blind Sheikh") and Abu al-Faraj al-Libi are also cited.In the Arabic portion, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri discusses the issue of the Pope Benedict XVI's slanderous comments to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, by prefacing such attacks as beginning with the Satanic Verses of Salmon Rushdie, followed by desecration of the Qur'an at Guantanamo Bay, and banning of the hijab in French schools. He states that the current pope is reminiscent of Pope Urban II, who "provoked the people of Europe to fight the Muslims" in the Crusades. Zawahiri disregards Christinaity due to its "supersitions" and alleged irrationality, but avers that Muslims are not enemies of Jesus as Pope Urban II claimed. On the pope's comments directly, Zawahiri adds: "if Benedict attacked us, we will respond to his insults with good things. We will call upon him, and all of the Christians to become Muslims who do not recognize the Trinity or the crucifixion, and say that Allah united with the human." SITE
It sounds like Zawahiri has been listening to the Democrats talking points, doesn't it?
"And be aware, you deceitful charlatan, that you are not facing individuals or organizations, but rather are facing the Muslim nation in which the spirit of Jihad flows and which refuses humiliation under Zionist/Crusader arrogance" he says. source
The SITE Institute (Search for International Terrorist Entities Institute), which monitors terrorists' online activities, announced the Ayman al-Zawahiri tape in advance of it's release. As-Sahab productions, al-Qaeda's media production group, reports Zawahiri's topic will be the September 12, 2006 remarks by Pope Benedict XVI on Islam, U.S. President George W. Bush, and Sudan's Darfur region. It has been less than a month since Zawahiri's last tape, September 11, 2005. source
Reports of Osama Bin Laden's death last week have yet to be proven or disproved. The report that he died of Typhoid Fever did seem strange, since it can easily be treated with antibiotics. We have not seen him on video since he appeared on Al Jazeera on October 29, 2004, just before the November elections in the U.S.
... and even if untreated it is fatal in less than 20 percent of cases, according to the U.S. government’s Center for Disease Control. And if Saudi intelligence officials did have information about bin Laden’s death, they probably would pass it on to American intelligence officials. That reportedly did not happen. source
The Taliban says that Osama Bin Laden is alive and well, living outside of Afghanistan. Well, how do they know, let's aske them for some proof, heh.
The Dubai-based al-Arabiya television, monitored in Beirut, Tuesday quoted Taliban spokesman Mohammed Hanif as saying "the brothers in al-Qaida say that bin Laden is alive and what they said is true."The presumed Taliban spokesman told al-Arabiya in a telephone interview that bin Laden was outside Afghanistan. source
The much publicized NIE report, after reading the declassified portions, come to the conclusion that al-Qaeda is 'damaged' and 'scattered' and 'if the jihadists are perceived to have failed [in Iraq], "we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight"'. The report suggests that killing or capturing bin Laden, Zawahiri and Zarqawi would help. Of course since the report was finished Zarqawi was killed. One down, two more to go. More on the report from Aljazeera if you're interested.
Condi Rice gave an interview to the New York Times and here is one of her comments:
The first point that I would make is that it should be no surprise to anyone that as you choose to confront terrorists in a pretty aggressive and offensive way, that they will do everything that they can to fight back, including finding new sources and new excuses for recruitment. That should surprise no one. So at one point, the excuse for recruitment was our forces in Saudi Arabia. You need to know that of course, al-Qaida makes no distinction between the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq in their recruiting. They have even tried to latch on to what may be attitudes about Sudan. source
Muslims say that the Koran (Quran) teaches peace, love and acceptance of others, but Osama Bin Laden said, "Death is better than living on this Earth with the unbelievers among us", from "How do the terrorists justify terror?"
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