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Al Qaeda's Cyberspace Brawl
Zarqawi dismissed his former mentor’s argument out of hand, saying the letter would hurt the cause of jihad. Zarqawi then released a video of himself firing a machine gun in the Iraqi desert to demonstrate that the true leaders of jihad are the ones fighting on the battlefield, not those hiding in a cave in Waziristan—a not so subtle reference to bin Laden.
Taking stock of the “electronic war” among jihadists, the London-based Arab daily Al-Hayat reports that Maqdisi’s argument is making inroads and he “appears to have won the first round.”
The ongoing debate on jihadist websites shows that Al Qaeda may be losing its grip on the leadership of worldwide jihad now that it has failed to hold ground in Iraq and has few achievements to show for the deaths of thousands of Muslims there.
In Mumbai, too, the overwhelming majority of victims were local citizens; despite reports that the attackers were targeting Westerners, these accounted for only 23 of the nearly 200 lives lost.
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the current leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and Zawahri, bin Laden’s deputy, have both sent messages to President-elect Barack Obama. The first appeared to extend an olive branch, expressing a hope that the new president would abandon President Bush’s war on terror.
But Zawahri chose to hurl insults, convinced by Obama’s Cabinet appointments—Rahm (Rahmbo) Emanuel as chief of staff, Hillary (Iron Lady) Clinton as secretary of state, and Robert (Surge) Gates staying on as secretary of defense—that Obama could be as bad as Bush, if not worse.
Judging by the chatter on the Internet, Obama has won round one against Al Qaeda even before taking office.
Salameh Nematt is the international editor of The Daily Beast. He is the former Washington bureau chief for the international Arab daily Al-Hayat, where he reported on US foreign policy, the war in Iraq, and the US drive for democratization in the broader Middle East. He has also written extensively on regional and global energy issues and their political implications.
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What no comments from the Beastosphere? That's ironic. Now if Islamic followers, of which about 120 million are jihadists, lay down their jihadist dreams, Islam would be better off. And would that nut job with the Airbus 380, please return it. The rednecks are even getting pissed off at mid east oil barons, or maybe not; oil is what ; shy of $50. Let's break'em, just like we did the soviets. Why can't out of control spending be a weapon? We've been broke since Eisenhower. I don't think the Khamenei's, Putin's, Il's, Saud's, and their European and leftist apologists can keep up. I am taking a short position on anti-Americanism. Once America faces up to this new war (energy/jihad/leftist/finance) and Obama starts to govern from the right, and he will, that is when we will recover and not before.
You're right, how strange no comments to this. Perhaps the difference between jihadist philosophies is a nuance to subtle to grasp for Westerners. Jihad I guess still sounds like "war against America" no matter who bears the title or what their actual agenda is.
The lesson in this is that people do what they perceive to be in their best interests, so the best way to win the war on terror is to change the impression that asymmetrical violence will result in positive, long-lasting political achievements.
This is the kind of Islamic reporting fostered by Steve Emerson!
"asymmetrical violence" is asymmetrical because those on receiving end are not fighting back.
Well, let us be clear then. Jihad is not war against America. Jihad is the Islamic struggle to convert others to Islam by force, using any means of warfare they can. It isn't that they hate us. They hate us and want to kill us, if we don't bow. Doesn't have anything to do with the west or anything we have done or haven't done. Jihadists regardless of any variation in their philosophies only understand and avoid a stronger tribe.
I've only heard of Zawahri's repudiation of Obama. I didn't hear anything in the news about al-Baghdadi's extended olive branch.
I think that's telling enough by itself.
Thank you.
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