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Al-Qaeda in Iraq: Determined but Desperate
by Omar Fadhil The latest three messages from al-Qaeda addressing the Sunni community uncover the depth of the crisis that al-Qaeda is facing in its former host community. The threatening tone of the missives from the alleged Abu Omar Baghdadi and Aby Ayyub, and the insulting tone of the second by Zawahiri, reflect mistrust, anxiety and a dire need to retrieve what was lost. Death threats do not represent a serious call for cooperation on an achievable objective. This work-for-me-or-I-kill-you tone is completely different from the usual recruiting slogans that have focused on the ideology of fighting for absolute truth against absolute evil. Those slogans have failed, which is why they have been discarded and replaced by threats and an effort to seek out third parties to render verdicts on disagreements, which is what Baghdadi alluded to when he proposed that some (not all!) Sunni clerics come forward to mediate between al-Qaeda and the public. This call for mediation indicates first, that al-Qaeda has lost direct contact with the public and second, that there are still some clerics involved with al-Qaeda. This is the main reason why people have abandoned the Association of Muslim scholars and its also the reason that moderate Sunni clerics declare war on the organization. This is also a reason for the conflict between some tribes with some members of the Islamic party. One suspects that a group of the partys members are essentially stuck with al-Qaeda: they cant walk away because of the incriminating evidence al-Qaeda has against them and could threaten to expose. Of course the threatening messages had to be backed with action in order to be taken seriously; the bombings in Mosul, Anbar and Diyala served as the actual bloody part of the message. Here we can note, however, that the act didnt match the threat. Instead of killing security forces and awakening fighters only (whom al-Qaeda calls collaborators) the murderous crimes reached civilians who had nothing to do with the whole conflict. Although one attack targeted a funeral of two awakening members, the actual victims were noncombatant mourners. These crimes demonstrate that the principles and values that al-Qaeda touted are false and that the old ways have failed. Otherwise al-Qaeda wouldnt have switched to terrorizing fellow Sunnis instead of promising mansions in heaven and dozens of virgins. More at the link... Posted by: Fred 2008-04-22 |
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