Al-Queda No.2

[Gomaria]

 

 

 

An Arabic language news network has aired a video of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, in which he called on U.S. President George W. Bush to admit defeat in Iraq.

 

Al-Jazeera said the video, which is about a minute long, was made in December.

 

According to translation of the video, Ayman al-Zawahiri offers his condolences to Pakistan for the October 8 earthquake before congratulating fellow Muslims for what he says is a victory in Iraq.

 

He refers to a November 30 speech in which Bush reiterated the U.S. position that its military would leave Iraq once Iraqi forces were fully trained, without laying out a timetable.

 

The video, which had been edited, shows the gray-bearded al-Zawahiri seated, wearing glasses, a white headdress, a white sash, a gray shirt and a clip-on microphone.

 

As he speaks, he is constantly pointing at the camera with his right hand, but his voice remains calm. Behind him is a gun propped up on a brown wall.

 

The video has English subtitles and shows the logo of the production company, As-Sahab, which has produced previous al Qaeda videos as well as videos from the 9/11 bombers.

 

Here is the full translation of the video as it aired on Al-Jazeera:

 

"Even though I send my condolences to my Islamic nation for the tragedy of the earthquake in Pakistan, today I congratulate everyone for the victory in Iraq. You remember, my dear Muslim brethren, what I told you more than a year ago, that the U.S. troops will pull out of Iraq. It was only a matter of time.

 

"Here they are now and in the blessing of God begging to pull out, seeking negotiations with the mujahedeen. And here is Bush who was forced to announce at the end of last November that he will be pulling his troops out of Iraq.

 

"He uses the pretext that the Iraqi forces reached a high level of preparedness. But he doesn't have a timetable for the pullout.

 

"If all of his troops -- air force, army -- are begging for a way to get out of Iraq, will the liars, traitors and infidels succeed in what the world superpower failed to achieve in Iraq?

 

"You have set the timetable for the withdrawal a long time ago and Bush, you have to admit that you were defeated in Iraq, you are being defeated in Afghanistan, and you will be defeated in Palestine, God willing."

 

Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor with a $25 million reward on his head, released five audio and video statements last year, including several claiming responsibility for the July attacks on London's transit system.

 

In mid-October, U.S. officials released a letter they said was written by al-Zawahiri to the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in July about seeking support for Iraqi insurgents ahead of a U.S. withdrawal.

 

Days later, al Qaeda in Iraq posted an Internet statement calling the letter "another fabrication ... by the Black House," using its term for the White House.

 

A U.S. counterterrorism official said that while al-Zawahiri mentions a number of recent events on the new tape, it features "the same well-worn jihadist rhetoric."

 

U.S. officials also noted that while the world has heard from al-Zawahiri frequently in the past year, bin Laden has been silent since October 2004. They said bin Laden may be so worried about his security that he does not dare take the risk of recording a message and relying on others to get it out securely.

[Avenging Angels]

I am so sick of hearing about terrorism. I mean the war on terror is futile. How do you eliminate terror? Sure as hell does not happen when you are starting new wars, occupying countries, and bombing the sh*t out of folks. it starts with addressing the real roots of the problem. You need to address the powerlessness people feel, the poverty, lack of education and everything else.

 

Since, we bombed the hell out of Iraq, they do not seem any closer to having their basic needs fulfilled, and they do not seem to be any closer to having a better life. War and violence cannot eliminate terror, they only further the cycle.

[Gomaria]

I am going to use ghetto slang "I feel ya"-lol well anyways yes I agree terrosism will never go away somebody is always going to make attacks against somebody else.

[Avenging Angels]

I agree with you but unfortunately the president wants to fight this futile war in all the wrong ways wasting our money when they need to be spent on healthcare, education, welfare programs, environmental protection among a few things.

 

Why should democracy be the choosen form of governance? Why is it supperior from all the other forms? Why should the US alone decide?

[Mongol-Swedes]

Aight, aight, let the Sarge interject on this. I am assuming you all have only heard of Iraq from media sources, I don't care if they showcased some returning Soldier's 'experiences', even. The last thing you can trust is somebody who's just trying to get rich by shaping the truth to fit their market analysts' research results, i.e. "shock and awe", showing people the horrors of battle while showing nothing else.

 

I remember recently watching the news, although the particular network evades me, not that it really matters, they all have a perspective based on market analysis(many of these analysts are former military intelligence analysts with the training to read trends in any situation) that helps them build a fatter fortune and media clout. ANYWAY, they were saying things like "utilities and other basic humane facilities continue to fail around the country", or "the widespread killing continues to grow and grow", etc. The REAL truth is that, in the north, where there are no irresponsible terrorists claiming to be the saviours of Iraq blowing things up, brand-new hospitals on par with American facilities have been built and are easily maintaining, utilities are running smoothly, and life is generally good, while in and around Baghdad, Tikrit, Fallujah, etc., some things are not to the Western's standard, PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF INSURGENT ACTIONS. And Zarqawi is a formidable enemy. If I remember correctly, wasn't it the media that insisted we were invincible for so long, and now that we haven't been able to give them the quick victory they need to fit their monetary needs, they slander the United States Uniformed Services? Those folks know what people want to hear, so they give them what they want: a dramatic tale of fustration.

 

Therefore, it behooves all of you to reconsider your sources. Lord knows how slanted Al-Jazeera is. They think they can appear 'moderate' by being more 'real' and graphic than networks Stateside. Terror can be defeated, Soldiers are learning more and more about Iraq and it's culture, this conflict should NEVER be compared to the irresponsibility of Vietnam.

 

Sgt. Train, 309th MI BN INSTRUCTOR

[Adaptus]

Now let the Corporal have his say.

 

What the sergeant is saying is all true. but on the British side, not only are the media tampering with the forces, as you could call it, but also on our side, they are getting in the way, all to often. my friends from 33 Sqrn who fly Pumas fell victim to this very resently. a few months ago they were oporating inside Iraq. now they only have 15 Pumas on their Sqrn, and in the whole RAF. and at the time 3 were in Iraq, 5 at home, 1 in Northern Ireland, and the rest dotted about. anyhow, skynews were very persistant on getting "shots" for the news the next day, so the RAF kindly said that one of their Pumas would take them into Basra, and that the crew would come back later to pick them up, after their duties. once the SkyNews team was finished, the Pumas came back, but unfortunitly the news team did not get their "shots". so they got the Puma pilot to take a complete detour to an oil field wich was burning the exsess oil, as thats what they do. the news team then took photos of the burning gases, and classed them as ingsergant attaks. what this did though was took the Puma crew out of their action, as at the same time thet this happend, there was a small insergant attack back in Basra, and the other 2 Pumas were already out on missions. that puma which had taken the news crew, should have been on the sene of those attack, but thanks to SkyNews, it wasnt.

 

this goes to show that the war on terror is nothing more than Kosovo, or Bosnia, meare peace missions, with the odd "isodent", not the Vietnam as the news is saying. and as the sarge pointed out. it also goes to show you, that what your watching on T.V, is not always the truth. what the media is doing is making Irqa hyped up, or rather, in the words of Mr.Kelly himself, sexed up, all in the quest for ratings. it's all stupid realy.

[slades_29]

this goes to show that the war on terror is nothing more than Kosovo, or Bosnia, meare peace missions, with the odd "isodent", not the Vietnam as the news is saying. and as the sarge pointed out.

 

But surely that is missing the point gomaria and avenging angels make, sure the news teams want pics/video to sell more papers increase their ratings, but wasnt bosnia kosovo UN approved peacekeeping missions to stop multiple warring factions tearing countries appart? Whereas the US led invasion of Iraq was a pre-emptive military strike to remove the supposed threat of WMDs, which now not found is now nicly repackaged as a war on terror/ attempt to spread democracy?

[Gomaria]

He that named "slades_29" does speak of the truth!

[Adaptus]

thats not how i am compereing it, i mean how Bosnia, and Kosovo were sort of low level conflicts, which the media didnt make a big fuss about. plus Irqa has turned into a UN mission to stop waring factions from tearing a country appart. most UN nations have been involved by sending in troops, and those troops arnt fighting Iraq, they are fighting Sunni and Sheite (i hope i spelt those right) factions, who are truning there country updside down.

[Tagmatium Rules]

He that named "slades_29" does speak of the truth!

Students have too much time on their hands...

[slades_29]

Even tho it was a few years ago, when i was in my early teens, i do however remember massive media coverage of the kosovo war and the NATO bombing of the area, as of any war that involved the Un and from a British media viewpoint, british troops being deployed in a hostile enviroment. Plus 24hour media coverage is surely more advanced now as well, eg bbc 24 and the increase of blogging and internet services has vastly changed how we see the news. Also where are the UN troops? Only the 'coilition of the willing' have sent troops havnt they? but on ur main point i agree with the idea it is the insurgents carrying on the fight against the Americans, but the invasion has only led to fanning the flames of hatred towards the americans thousands more 'terrorists' being created and many hundreds of thousands more hating the USA. U can make a nice shiney new hospital, but whos filling it up? casualites of the Americans and the insurgents.

[Adaptus]

, i was a bit younger when both Kosov and Bosnia happend, i can remeber 24 hour news coverage, but there was no hype, like there was for Iraq. and on your last point, i agree. the way i see it. the invasion to ridd Saddam was good, but once he was gone we should of pulled out then, and alowed them to settle themselves. fair enough, there could have been a woser man than Saddam come to power, but well it's part of Iraq's history. when you look in the history books, Iraq has never had a peacefull leader. only maybe the Babalonions.

[Mongol-Swedes]

Hey, why knock Hammurabi?

 

 

At the least the media could tell the truth, maybe? Terrorists watch the news, too, and read blogs. This is what I refer to as information irresponsibility.

[Dragonryders]

Students have too much time on their hands...

You thought you could get away with it by posting that in a different thread?

I will release a videotape for you soon enough.

 

Anyhoo, I'm surprised that the Arab world sees the withdrawal as an American defeat. It seems a bit childish, because if the Americans would stay, which they could at a high price internally and internationally, the Arabian world would be angry too. And now this mister seems to taunt America for leaving.

 

The most interesting thing for the future said in this tape is this piece:

"If all of his troops -- air force, army -- are begging for a way to get out of Iraq, will the liars, traitors and infidels succeed in what the world superpower failed to achieve in Iraq?"

 

This instantly creats hate by his and Jihad's followers against the new rulers of Iraq, no matter who those rulers will be. That's gonna cause some trouble. I wish big cohones for the new president of Iraq plus a hefty life insurance.

 

The fact that he now labels Iraq as another infidel country fuels exactly the point of Al-Queda's existance, which is the fact that the Western World makes Islamic/Sharia countries into segregated/infidel/untrue countries.

Edited January 8, 2006 by Dragonryders (see edit history)