Al Quada "facing defeat" in Afghanistan

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/07/pentagon....aeda/index.html

 

 

Someones gotta talk about good news in the War on Terror.........I guess it'll be me.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2005 by NUKE_CLEVELAND

[Rex Kickass]

That's great news that we're winning in Afghanistan.

[KipWellsFan]

I think you missed a flag Nuke.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

I think you missed a flag Nuke.

 

 

You're absolutely right my friend and thank you very much for pointing it out.

 

 

 

 

You guys helped out a hell of a lot in bringing this about.

[Rex Kickass]

At the risk of flames, I'd like to point out that France also has a large military presence in Afghanistan. As does Germany.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

At the risk of flames, I'd like to point out that France also has a large military presence in Afghanistan. As does Germany.

 

 

 

And thanks go out to them for their help there as well.

[KipWellsFan]

Good News Nuke

 

Sean Hannity said that "we have 70 percent of Al-Cater captured and on the run, we are winning the war on terror". I feel so reassured.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200510120010

 

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Good News Nuke

 

Sean Hannity said that "we have 70 percent of Al-Cater captured and on the run, we are winning the war on terror".  I feel so reassured.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200510120010

 

 

 

When Al Zawahiri says something about Al Quada being in dire straits I take notice. When I hear some guy on TV talk about that it sounds like the wah wah wah voice from Charlie Brown.

[KipWellsFan]

When Al Zawahiri says something about Al Quada being in dire straits I take notice.  When I hear some guy on TV talk about that it sounds like the wah wah wah voice from Charlie Brown.

 

You probably knew already but Negropante released the full letter.

 

summary

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1101353_pf.html

 

full letter

http://www.dni.gov/release_letter_101105.html

 

In the new letter, Zawahiri said the Muslim masses "do not rally except against an outside occupying enemy, especially if the enemy is firstly Jewish and secondly American."

Edited October 12, 2005 by KipWellsFan

[Balta1701]

They were "Defeated" in Afghanistan a long time ago, in the sense that they lost their main base of operations and training there.

 

The only other "Defeat" that I think they can really suffer there is the capture/death of Zawahiri and Bin Laden.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

They were "Defeated" in Afghanistan a long time ago, in the sense that they lost their main base of operations and training there.

 

The only other "Defeat" that I think they can really suffer there is the capture/death of Zawahiri and Bin Laden.

 

 

That may be true but you know you're getting somewhere when even THEY admit they are losing.

[Balta1701]

That may be true but you know you're getting somewhere when even THEY admit they are losing.

We probably are getting somewhere in Afghanistan, although it's still disconcerting that our casualty rates keep going up there as well.

 

Somehow though, considering they're talking about us withdrawing from Iraq...I don't think that they believe they're losing there.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

We probably are getting somewhere in Afghanistan, although it's still disconcerting that our casualty rates keep going up there as well.

 

Somehow though, considering they're talking about us withdrawing from Iraq...I don't think that they believe they're losing there.

 

They dont think so certainly but then it could fairly be said that Iraq is Al Quada's last stand. Naturally they're gonna fight like hell there.

[Balta1701]

They dont think so certainly but then it could fairly be said that Iraq is Al Quada's last stand.  Naturally they're gonna fight like hell there.

It could just as easily have been said that Tora Bora was their last stand, and they were going to fight like hell there too.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

It could just as easily have been said that Tora Bora was their last stand, and they were going to fight like hell there too.

 

 

I dont think it was. It was clearly our best shot at getting Bin Laden but not only did we not get him but we opened a second front in Iraq and I will grudgingly admit that we gave them a second wind in so doing.

 

 

I think the reason Al Quada has not had success at all in Afghanistan is that the people there are tired of fighting and they want the democratization process to go forward.

[KipWellsFan]

Al-Qaeda disowns 'fake letter'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4339912.stm

 

A statement claiming to be by al-Qaeda in Iraq has rejected as a fake a letter allegedly written by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command.

 

...

 

"We in al-Qaeda organisation announce that there is no truth to these claims, which are only based on the imagination of the politicians of the Black [White] House and their slaves," the statement said.

 

Damnit, now I'm going to have to actually read the letter and judge for myself.

[Balta1701]

Oh great, now I don't have a clue what to believe about that letter.

 

Could it have been a forgery? Sure, why not. We tried to justify an invasion with one.

 

Could Zawahiri be panicking now that a letter got out? Sure, why not. Somehow, I doubt telling the truth is one of his biggest priorities.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Oh great, now I don't have a clue what to believe about that letter.

 

Could it have been a forgery?  Sure, why not.  We tried to justify an invasion with one.

 

Could Zawahiri be panicking now that a letter got out?  Sure, why not.  Somehow, I doubt telling the truth is one of his biggest priorities.

 

 

I think Baghdad Bob found himself a new employer.

 

LOL!

[Balta1701]

I think Baghdad Bob found himself a new employer.

 

LOL!

I wish I could be there to see you face to face and thank you personally. Probably a little early for me to go to Tikrit. Perhaps one of these days the situation will be such that I'll be able to get back to Iraq.

[southsider2k5]

Oh great, now I don't have a clue what to believe about that letter.

 

Could it have been a forgery?  Sure, why not.  We tried to justify an invasion with one.

 

Could Zawahiri be panicking now that a letter got out?  Sure, why not.  Somehow, I doubt telling the truth is one of his biggest priorities.

 

Especially since they are trained to lie to paint America in the worst possible light, such as claiming torture while under arrest etc. Who knows who to believe, but it doesn't surprise me that they are claiming a forgery even if it was true.

[Balta1701]

Especially since they are trained to lie to paint America in the worst possible light, such as claiming torture while under arrest etc.  Who knows who to believe, but it doesn't surprise me that they are claiming a forgery even if it was true.

Juan Cole

 

The Arabic text of the recently released letter alleged to be by Zawahiri (al-Qaeda's number two man) to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq raises questions for me as to its authenticity.

 

The very first element of the letter is the blessing on the Prophet. It says:

 

al-salah wa al-salam `ala rasuli'llahi wa a-lihi wa suhubihi . . .

 

(peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of God and his family and his companions . . .)

 

the phrase "salla Allahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam" (the blessings and peace of God be upon him and his family) is a Shiite form of the salutation, because of the emphasis of the Shiites on the House or descendants of the Prophet. Because of the cultural influence of Shiism in South Asia, one does find that form of the salutation in Pakistan and India among Sunni Muslims.

 

But before I went to Pakistan I had never, ever heard a Sunni Muslim add "wa alihi" (and his family) to the salutation. I associated it strongly with Iran and Shiism, and was taken aback to hear Sunnis say it on Pakistani television. Certainly, I never heard that form of it all the time I lived in Egypt.

 

I just put "salla Allahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam" into google in English transliteration and *all* the sites that came up on the first page were either Shiite or Pakistani Sunni (Chishti, Barelvi, etc.) I tried adding Misr (Egypt) to the phrase and got a Shiite attack on the medieval Sunni hardline thinker, Ibn Taymiya. I tried adding Qaida and got a Shiite attack on Sunni extremism.

 

I do not believe that an Egyptian like al-Zawahiri would use this phraseology at all. But he certainly would not use it to open a letter to a Salafi. Sunni hardliners deeply object to what they see as Shiite idolatry of the imams or descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, for whom they made shrines such as Ali's at Najaf and Husayn's at Karbala. In fact, hard line Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia attacked and sacked Karbala in 1803.

 

Adding to the salutation "the peace and blessings of God be upon him [Muhammad]" the phrase "and his family" would be an insult to Zarqawi and to the hardline Sunnis in Iraq.

 

Later he refers to Husain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, as al-Imam al-sibt, "the Imam, the grandson". I do not believe that a hard line Sunni such as Zawahiri would call Husain an Imam. That is Shiite terminology.

 

The letter then says how much Zawahiri misses meeting with Zarqawi. Zarqawi was not part of al-Qaeda when he was in Afghanistan. He had a rivalry with it. And when he went back to Jordan he did not allow the Jordanian and German chapters of his Tawhid wa Jihad group to send money to Bin Laden. If Zawahiri was going to bring up old times, he would have had to find a way to get past this troubled history, not just pretend that the two used to pal around.

 

My gut tells me that the letter is a forgery. Most likely it is a black psy-ops operation of the US. But it could also come from Iran, since the mistakes are those a Shiite might make when pretending to be a Sunni. Or it could come from an Iraqi Shiite group attempting to manipulate the United States. Hmmm.

[Balta1701]

More authenticity doubts.

U.S. intelligence officials who released a letter purporting to be from an al Qaeda leader to

Iraq insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi this week said on Friday they could not account for a passage that has raised doubts about the document's authenticity.

 

The July 9 dated letter, which U.S. officials say was written by al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, appears near its close to urge the Iraq insurgent leader to send greetings to himself if visiting the Iraqi city of Falluja.

 

"My greetings to all the loved ones and please give me news of Karem and the rest of the folks I know," says an unedited English translation posted at www.dni.gov, the office Web site of U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte.

 

"And especially, by God, if by chance you're going to Falluja, send greetings to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," it states.

 

Zarqawi is the Jordanian-born leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, the most prominent segment of the deadly Iraq insurgency. His organisation has said the letter is a fabrication.

 

A spokesman for Negroponte, who is the U.S. director of national intelligence, or DNI, acknowledged the greetings passage was confusing but said the intelligence community was confident the letter was addressed to Zarqawi by Zawahri.

 

"We don't know what to make of it (the passage). It's unclear," the Negroponte spokesman said.

 

"But we are absolutely confident that it was intended for Mr. Zarqawi, based on a review by multiple agencies over a protracted period of time."

 

U.S. officials have refused to disclose details of where, when or how authorities came by the letter, or what methods have been used to determine its authenticity.

 

Some experts contend the strange passage undermines the letter's credibility.

 

"This would appear to be conclusive evidence that the DNI was mistaken, and that the letter was written to someone other than Zarqawi," Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists said on on Friday in his e-mail intelligence newsletter, "Secrecy News."

 

Aftergood cited an article in the online Slate magazine that called attention to the passage as well as the fact the letter was signed with the name, Abu Muhammad.

 

Experts have already said the letter depicts Zawahri as making unrealistic admissions involving al Qaeda's need for money, the Pakistan army's hunt for al Qaeda leaders and the May capture of al Qaeda member Abu Faraj al Liby.

 

The greetings passage gained little noticed from initial news coverage of the letter's release, which came days before this weekend's constitutional referendum in Iraq.

 

News coverage concentrated instead on language that suggested rifts between al Qaeda militants, including Zawahri's advice that insurgents avoid the unpopular killing of civilians and begin seeking public support for an Islamic state.

[kapkomet]

The whole world is a phoney. It's all smoke and mirrors. In fact, I bet some alien is running the world and controlling the "leaders" of the world. Or some such s***.

[WilliamTell]

The whole world is a phoney.  It's all smoke and mirrors.  In fact, I bet some alien is running the world and controlling the "leaders" of the world.  Or some such s***.

 

haha Men In Black style. At least at the end of it there was something, I forgot exactly what it was.