BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 12, 2006
Al Qaeda Claims 12,000 Iraq Fighters
In New Audiotape, Terror Leader Also Crows About Republican Defeat In U.S. Midterm Elections
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Play CBS Video Video New Alleged Al Qaeda Tape A new audiotape allegedly from al Qaeda's leader in Iraq has surfaced. He claims 12,000 fighters in Iraq and calls President Bush "the most stupid president in U.S. history." Drew Levinson reports.
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Video Gen. Pace On Rumsfeld As America celebrates Veteran's Day tomorrow, the U.S. military is engaged in a difficult war in Iraq and is preparing for life after Donald Rumsfeld. Gen. Peter Pace speaks with Hannah Storm.
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Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri (Dept. of Defense)
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Volunteers prepare bodies brought from Baghdad for their funeral in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Nov. 10, 2006. (AP)
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Shiites protest in Sadr City, Baghdad, after a curfew and vehicle ban imposed on Nov. 10, 2006, to prevent attacks on Muslims gathered at mosques for prayers. (AP)
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Iraqi firefighters remove debris following an explosion in Baghdad, Nov. 9, 2006. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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Injured Iraqis await treatment at the Kindi hospital in Baghdad, Nov. 9, 2006. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Photo Essay Donald Rumsfeld Defense Secretary and Iraq war architect steps down after six stormy years at the Pentagon.
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Interactive Campaign 2006 Complete coverage and analysis of Senate and key House races, plus gubernatorial elections.
The terror group also welcomed the U.S. Republican electoral defeat that led to the departure of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and vowed to continue its fight until the White House is blown up.
"The al Qaeda army has 12,000 fighters in Iraq, and they have vowed to die for God's sake," a man who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir said in an audio tape released Friday. He also claimed to have another 10,000 unequipped fighters ready to go into battle.
In the tape, al-Muhajir praised the outcome of Tuesday's elections in which Democrats swept to power in the House and the Senate, in large part due to U.S. voter dissatisfaction over the handling of the war in Iraq.
"The American people have put their feet on the right path by ... realizing their president's betrayal in supporting Israel," the terror leader said. "So they voted for something reasonable in the last elections." He did not explain his logic.
"The change in leadership will not have a direct impact on what we could or don't do in Iraq," U.S. Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Peter Pace said Friday on CBS News' The Early Show.
The authenticity of the 22-minute tape and al-Muhajir's identity could not be verified, but it appeared on a Web site commonly used by Islamic militants.
The CIA said it was analyzing the tape but declined to comment further.
In other developments:
The area lies at the heart of Rasheed Street, Baghdad's main commercial center.
been killed by a roadside bomb. Slovakia's prime minister says his
country will pull its troops out of Iraq in February.
Al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, took over as leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, one of the country's deadliest terror groups, after his predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a U.S. air strike north of Baghdad in June.
The terrorist chieftain called Bush "the most stupid president" in U.S. history and declared that was allowing al Qaeda to move to victory more quickly than expected.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 34 CommentsYou should take your comedy routine to Tel-Aviv. I think you would be a big hit there.
Hardly. The Iraqi people are obviously tired of their friends and familiy being humiliated, wrongfully imprisoned, tortured, raped, and murdered at the hands of U.S. agents.
The Iraqis have every right to defend themselves against the brutal and illegal invasion of their country, and the efforts of the Bush regime apologists to try and blame their horrific failures on the Iraqi-puppet government is beyond belief.
If CBS chooses to dutifully report everything that is "linked" to the non-existent "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" without investigating, and without challenging these reports, they should not be posing as a News source.
CBS may choosed to accept everything and anything that is "believed" about this obvious PSY-OPS effort, but it is certainly not "believed" by me or anyone else that chooses to determine the facts about these laughable reports.
From:
www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Report_Head_of_Qaeda_in_Iraq_0706.html
Egyptian newspaper Al-Masri al-Yawm is reporting that Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, reported successor to of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as head of al Qaeda in Iraq, has been spotted in an Egyptian prison.
According to Mamduh Ismail, an attorney for Islamist groups, al-Muhajir has been in Tura prison in Egypt for the past seven years. "I met him two days ago while I was visiting some of my clients," the lawyer claims.
Bring it on, cupcake.
I do not know how all that will finish but I would like to say to American people they can be proud doing it. It is a fight for freedom.
Thank you
Dude, you and your ilk are SO freakin' pathetic in your refusal to accept that YOU LOST!
George W. Bush was, is and forever will be the most incompetent President to Ever occupy the OVAL OFFICE.
Actually he is nothing more than a PUPPET; controlled by HIS FATHER, CHENEY, ROVE, RUMSFELD
and CONDOLEEZA RICE. HE is a trained Chimp who doesn't possess even the most rudimentary communication skills required to BE the COMMANDER IN CHIEF.
THERE IS NO GREATER EVIDENCE OF THIS THAN his pathetic stumbling press conference on Wednesday. GET OVER IT... WE DEMS WILL OCCUPY THE WHITE HOUSE IN '08 AS WELL, and then you and all of Rush's other "dittoheads" will see how government SHOULD BE RUN.
Right.
(and only seconds later, in true Archie Bunker style, One_American couldn't help himself as he expostulated, "And for your information, little one, we're gonna share the front seat, unless you like getting pushed out of the car at top speed.")
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So much for the patriotic unity and bipartisanship Bush likes to preach about, lately. Sounds so, um, 911, you know? (So much for hypcrisy.)
But maybe Bush at least could let his own bozos know what he is saying, first, so they don't embarrass him at every turn. They desperately need training in lip synch, even if they already have the DoubleThink part down pat.
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Only hours after losing the election, you can't wait to pass the buck to somebody else-- how typical of Bush and his GOP bozos, and how utterly symbolic of why you lost. Don't you get it? The American people found you incompetent, corrupt and a threat to their own security and well-being. What could be more devastating? You cannot escape their indictment or blame somebody else, because you had the run of government for six long years of virtually total power-- yet still imploded in a fiasco of incompetence and utter corruption. You have met the enemy, and that enemy is you.
At times, some wonder whether you even can recognize what you have become. Only last year, for example, Bush openly denigrated the Constitution he took an oath to defend, calling it "... nothing but a GD*&#! piece of paper!" before members of his own party (November, 2005). Your Lawbreaker-in-Chief not once but repeatedly violates the very rule of law, denying Americans basic civil rights, privacy and protections under that Constitution. Wiser GOP heads retreat in dismay as they recognize Bush as a shallow, unprincipled and reckless opportunist who has no concept of their conservative (or personal) principles.
On 911, Americans overcome by surprise and grief were patient and trusting even when Bush did not remotely deserve that trust, even as Bush and his party spread deceit and hatred among Americans they had pledged to unite. But that is all over now. At long last, Bush and his camp followers have the reward they so richly deserve.
A few observations--
1. Al Qaeda Needs Bush and Bush Needs al Qaeda.
It's a working partnership-- al Qaeda needs to show America is a hostile, imperialist "crusader" nation bent on destroying Iraq and other Muslim states. This has a wildfire appeal in the MidEast so long as US troops remain, and al Qaeda grows by legions. Likewise, Bush desperately needs al Qaeda as a constantly growing threat to justify grabbing more power for himself. Bush does whatever he pleases by calling it a "war on terror" and finds raw, emergency-mode political power irresistible (completely ignoring Lord Acton's counsel, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely").
The mutual dependency of Bush and al Qaeda is hard to deny. Al Qaeda didn't exist in Iraq until Bush and his neocon bozos let it slip the noose in Afghanistan, and then opened the door for al Qaeda by invading Iraq. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush repeatedly stumbled, and al Qaeda deftly exploited his multiple blunders of tactics and overall strategy. In the years since Bush dropped the ball in Aghanistan, al Qaeda developed a literally booming franchise in both war zones.
One_American-- 4
2. The GOP Struggles for Power but Denies Responsibility
Even months before the Democrats touch the wheels of power, the GOP cannot wait to excuse itself by all manner of specious accusations. But having struggled to gain control of all branches of government for six years in a most un-American, bitterly partisan manner, the GOP cannot deny it bears the burden for what went wrong on its watch.
3. A Serious Mistake to Argue with Enemy Propaganda
It shouldn't surprise that al Qaeda wants to claim a victory-- al Qaeda is also at war, and wants and needs to deceive. So, who should take their words at face value? Likewise, GOP partisans cannot have it both ways-- if a message is propaganda, they cannot wave it about literally, since it hides the core of its true meaning. Likewise, to argue a Bush election defeat benefits al Qaeda ignores the fact Bush already has bungled his own war, and in a way al Qaeda never could have done for him. Most Americans polled say Bush and his inept "war on terror" is a threat to American security by its very incompetence.
4. The Argument of Vietnam
As some historians doubtless recall, when Johnson was politically defeated at home, North Korea claimed Tet was proof it controlled US elections. They also loudly favored Nixon over Johnson. But is anyone prepared to argue Nixon, by defeating the Democrats and Johnson, worked for the enemy and undid Johnson's efforts to wage war? Interesting idea, considering Nixon later opened trade with China. But in any case, the GOP partisan cannot argue both ways.
5. True Sibling Rivalry Starts at Home
The al Qaeda statement is also a claim to leadership. US intelligence agencies closely follow internal struggles for power inside al Qaeda for that reason, and such chest thumping declarations are entirely for home consumption.. Witness the fact the video also tries to interpret 2006 as a flat rejection of Israel. This not only stretches the truth, but reveals how eager Abu Ayyub al-Masri is to preach to his own choir, taking credit where none is due. Al-Masri is very interested in seeming to be in control-- after all, he is the second al Qaeda leader, already, after Zarqawi's death.
Executive summary-- judge by what they do, not what they say.
"Our plan is to try our best to clean up the huge mess you made."
Republicans have been working since 9-11 to clean up the mess, but you Democrats only offered criticism and hate-speech. Now YOU need to shut up and get you butt in gear and help out!
You should remember, the terrorist made the mess, or were you born yesterday?
And for your information, little one, we're gonna share the front seat, unless you like getting pushed out of the car at top speed.
Our plan is to try our best to clean up the huge mess you made. Now get in the back seat and shut up ! And stop hitting your brother.
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