The murders of the Egyptian and Algerian diplomats in Iraq reinforces the fact that al Qaeda’s war is not only against the United States, but also against Muslim governments. As discussed in al Qaeda’s Diplomatic Mission, one goal of the murders is to discredit the Iraqi government and force foreign governments to withdraw their diplomatic missions. Another purpose is to destabilize Arab governments considered apostates for their unwillingness to adhere to the Islamist form of government and for their cooperation with Western governments. This can be clearly seen in the case of the kidnapping and murder of the Algerian diplomats.
In al Qaeda and the Algerian terrorist group Salafist Group for Call and Combat [GSPC] communiqu
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Bill, I on occasion have trouble telling what is bullshit and what is not from the media, like this report in the Washington Post below, that paints a picture of the insurgency as more dire then I have seen it since April 2004. If that is to be believed then civil war and a long term al-Qaeda base in Iraq is inevitable.
The main reason I have trouble believing this is that Sunnis wouldn’t even be part of the Constitutional Convention right if things were this bad. What do you think Bill?
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Two weeks ago, I received a bleak message from an Iraqi Sunni friend named Talal Gaaod. It worried me because Gaaod has been working hard for the past two years to rally Sunnis to support a new Iraqi government. But as the country has drifted deeper into anarchy this summer, Gaaod’s confidence has been shaken.
The rough language of his e-mail conveys the situation better than a hundred polished Pentagon reports: “The political process, and the American project, it has failed,” Gaaod wrote. “Believe me, there is no need to waste anymore one penny of the American taxpayers’ money and no more one drop of blood of the American boys.” He added: “Continuing on the basis to build a democratic process in securing the country, it’s only a dream.”
Gaaod argues that the violence has become so brutal that it’s no longer possible to talk about political solutions, at least in the short run. Because U.S. forces have been unable to contain the insurgency, ordinary Sunnis have been intimidated and overwhelmed. The only weapons the insurgents lack now are armored vehicles, but Gaaod fears they may get those soon, too.
Gaaod argues that the pragmatic solution is martial law, in which generals drawn equally from Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds take control of security. The military men would work with a government of technocrats. Until order is restored, the Iraqi businessman insists, it’s useless to talk about loftier hopes for the country.
What makes Gaaod’s new pessimism so disturbing is that he has been trying to help U.S. officials connect with the Sunnis of western Iraq. Like most Iraqi Sunnis, he had contacts with Saddam Hussein’s regime, but since its ouster, he has helped American officials organize several conferences for Sunni leaders in Amman, Jordan, where he now lives. Working with tribal allies inside Iraq, he helped convene meetings in Fallujah, Mosul and Ramadi to talk about reconciliation. But these efforts have not worked; sometimes, the American military was arresting or shooting the very Sunni leaders that Gaaod was trying to bring to the table.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/28/AR2005072801790.html
Diplomatic assassinations and the Sahel
Bill Roggio talks about the murders of diplomats from Algeria and Egypt, and how jihad is even a war of one muslim against the other
The WaPo can read like Der Spiegel sometimes.
Gaaod, a Sunni who fled to Amman when Saddam’s racket ended, and who maintains close ties to the old regime, says that America should throw in the towell. “..the American Project, it has failed.” According to him we are defeated.
I think anything Gaaod has to say should be taken with a grain of salt.
BTW: Gaaod’s use of the affectionate term “American boys” stinks. It was a grab for the domestic political heart-strings of America’s military parents, with the sole intention of tugging at them. No class.
-Steve
“The murders of the Egyptian and Algerian diplomats in Iraq reinforces the fact that al Qaeda’s war is not only against the United States, but also against Muslim governments.”
You’ve got it all wrong my friend. Ben Laden is a Qutbist, a follower of Qutb’s writing an egyptian who was executed in the 60’s and who is the father of modern islamic terrorism. Qutb says that’s in imperative that you overthrow muslim states first. Ben Laden seems to violate his teachings but it’s only a matter of tactics. His war is primarily against muslim governments. For Ben Laden, the real war against the US will come after muslim governments are overthrowned. The 9-11 attack and all subsequent attacks are only a mean to force the muslim governments to ally to the US and alienate them from the local population.
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