Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
December 30, 2007
Pg. 1
By Salah Nasrawi, Associated Press
CAIRO--Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against fighting al Qaeda and promised to expand the terror group's holy war to Israel in a new audiotape yesterday, threatening "blood for blood, destruction for destruction."
Most of the 56-minute tape dealt with Iraq, apparently al Qaeda's latest attempt to keep supporters in Iraq unified at a time when the U.S. military claims to have al Qaeda's Iraq branch on the run.
The tape did not mention Pakistan or the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, though Pakistan's government has blamed al Qaeda and the Taliban for the former prime minister's death on Thursday.
But bin Laden's comments offered an unusually direct attack on Israel, which has warned of growing al Qaeda activity in the Palestinian territories. The terror network is not thought to have taken a strong role there so far.
"We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the [Jordan] river to the sea," he said, threatening "blood for blood, destruction for destruction."
"We will not recognize even one inch for Jews in the land of Palestine as other Muslim leaders have," bin Laden said.
In Iraq, a number of Sunni Arab tribes in western Anbar province have formed a coalition fighting al Qaeda-linked insurgents that U.S. officials credit for deeply reducing violence in the province. The U.S. military has been working to form similar "Awakening Councils" in other areas of Iraq.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said bin Laden's tape shows that al Qaeda's aim is to block democracy and freedom for all Iraqis.
"It also reminds us that the mission to defeat al Qaeda in Iraq is critically important and must succeed," Mr. Fratto said. "The Iraqi people — every day, and in increasing numbers — are choosing freedom and standing against the murderous, hateful ideology of [al Qaeda in Iraq]. And we stand with them."
In the audiotape, bin Laden denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the former leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, who was killed in a September bombing claimed by al Qaeda.
"The most evil of the traitors are those who trade away their religion for the sake of their mortal life," bin Laden said.
He said U.S. and Iraqi officials are seeking to set up a "national unity government" joining the country's Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds. He called the plan a U.S. plot to control Iraqi oil.
"Our duty is to foil these dangerous schemes, which try to prevent the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq, which would be a wall of resistance against American schemes to divide Iraq," he said.
The authenticity of the tape could not be independently confirmed. But the voice resembled that of bin Laden. The tape was posted on an Islamist militant Web site where al Qaeda's media arm, Al-Sahab, issues the group's messages.
The tape was the fifth message released by bin Laden this year, a flurry of activity after he went more than a year without issuing any tapes. The messages began with a Sept. 8 video that showed bin Laden for the first time in nearly three years. The other messages this year have been audiotapes.
In an October tape, bin Laden sought to patch up splits between Iraqi insurgent factions, urging them to unite with the Islamic State of Iraq — the insurgent coalition led by al Qaeda. He took a conciliatory stance, chiding even al Qaeda's followers for being too "extremist" in their positions toward other insurgents.
Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, took a sharper tone in a Dec. 16 video, branding as "traitors" those who work with the anti-al Qaeda tribal councils and calling for Sunnis to purge anyone cooperating with Americans.
December 30, 2007
Pg. 1
By Salah Nasrawi, Associated Press
CAIRO--Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against fighting al Qaeda and promised to expand the terror group's holy war to Israel in a new audiotape yesterday, threatening "blood for blood, destruction for destruction."
Most of the 56-minute tape dealt with Iraq, apparently al Qaeda's latest attempt to keep supporters in Iraq unified at a time when the U.S. military claims to have al Qaeda's Iraq branch on the run.
The tape did not mention Pakistan or the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, though Pakistan's government has blamed al Qaeda and the Taliban for the former prime minister's death on Thursday.
But bin Laden's comments offered an unusually direct attack on Israel, which has warned of growing al Qaeda activity in the Palestinian territories. The terror network is not thought to have taken a strong role there so far.
"We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the [Jordan] river to the sea," he said, threatening "blood for blood, destruction for destruction."
"We will not recognize even one inch for Jews in the land of Palestine as other Muslim leaders have," bin Laden said.
In Iraq, a number of Sunni Arab tribes in western Anbar province have formed a coalition fighting al Qaeda-linked insurgents that U.S. officials credit for deeply reducing violence in the province. The U.S. military has been working to form similar "Awakening Councils" in other areas of Iraq.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said bin Laden's tape shows that al Qaeda's aim is to block democracy and freedom for all Iraqis.
"It also reminds us that the mission to defeat al Qaeda in Iraq is critically important and must succeed," Mr. Fratto said. "The Iraqi people — every day, and in increasing numbers — are choosing freedom and standing against the murderous, hateful ideology of [al Qaeda in Iraq]. And we stand with them."
In the audiotape, bin Laden denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the former leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, who was killed in a September bombing claimed by al Qaeda.
"The most evil of the traitors are those who trade away their religion for the sake of their mortal life," bin Laden said.
He said U.S. and Iraqi officials are seeking to set up a "national unity government" joining the country's Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds. He called the plan a U.S. plot to control Iraqi oil.
"Our duty is to foil these dangerous schemes, which try to prevent the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq, which would be a wall of resistance against American schemes to divide Iraq," he said.
The authenticity of the tape could not be independently confirmed. But the voice resembled that of bin Laden. The tape was posted on an Islamist militant Web site where al Qaeda's media arm, Al-Sahab, issues the group's messages.
The tape was the fifth message released by bin Laden this year, a flurry of activity after he went more than a year without issuing any tapes. The messages began with a Sept. 8 video that showed bin Laden for the first time in nearly three years. The other messages this year have been audiotapes.
In an October tape, bin Laden sought to patch up splits between Iraqi insurgent factions, urging them to unite with the Islamic State of Iraq — the insurgent coalition led by al Qaeda. He took a conciliatory stance, chiding even al Qaeda's followers for being too "extremist" in their positions toward other insurgents.
Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, took a sharper tone in a Dec. 16 video, branding as "traitors" those who work with the anti-al Qaeda tribal councils and calling for Sunnis to purge anyone cooperating with Americans.