Al Qaeda: 9/11 paved way for Arab Spring

This image taken from an al Qaeda video released on Sept. 13, 2011 shows an undated photo of the terror group's new leader, Ayman al-Zawahri. / CBS

CAIRO — In a message Tuesday marking the Sept. 11 anniversary, al Qaeda's new leader sought to claim credit for this year's Arab uprisings, saying the 2001 attacks on the United States paved the way for the "Arab volcano" sweeping the region a decade later.

Ayman al-Zawahri and other al Qaeda figures have issued a number of messages seeking to associate themselves with the Arab uprisings that toppled autocratic leaders in his native Egypt, as well as Tunisia and Libya, and which threaten others. In the messages, they urge Arabs to replace toppled regimes with Islamic rule.

The wave of unrest transforming the Middle East, however, was largely the work of young, peaceful protesters seeking democratic freedoms, and political observers say it showed the failure of al Qaeda's extremist ideology and how out of touch the terror group is with Arab youth.

"By striking the head of the world criminal," al Qaeda forced America to press its allies in the Middle East to change their policies, which helped the "Arab volcano" to build up and explode, al-Zawahri said in the hour-long audio message.

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Al-Zawahri was Osama bin Laden's deputy and became head of al Qaeda in June after bin Laden's death in the May 2 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan. Al-Zawahri had a long history of fighting against Hosni Mubarak's rule in his home nation, leading militants who carried out deadly bombing and shooting attacks in the 1990s.

Islamic militants considered the regimes of Mubarak and other U.S.-allied autocrats in the Middle East to be corrupt, godless and too closely aligned with the West.

Their attacks were met with a crackdown by Mubarak's security forces that largely crushed their operations in Egypt.

In his new message, titled "The Dawn of Imminent Victory," al-Zawahri also lashed out at the United States for what he called "blatant deception" in showing support for the Arab uprisings while keeping strong ties with leaders in the absolute monarchies of the Gulf, like Saudi Arabia.

"Why doesn't it (the U.S.) say anything to Al Saud, the killers of Muslims and the thieves of their wealth?" he said, referring to the Saudi ruling family.

The new message released by al Qaeda's media arm and posted on extremist websites included previously unreleased footage of bin Laden.

The U.S. was on high alert during the weekend over what officials described as a credible but unconfirmed terror threat on Washington or New York.

[illyay]

"The wave of unrest transforming the Middle East, however, was largely the work of young, peaceful protesters "

dear CBS - are you f*cking serious? this is retarded... UNREST in the Middle East LARGELY caused by PEACEFUL protesters? whoever wrote this crap editorial for CBS must not have been watching CBS' own broadcasts of "peaceful protesters" armed to the teeth with 3 assault rifles per person, on average (not to mention RPGs), walking around Gaddafi's compounds and shooting their guns peacefully into the air :)))

dear author, you are an idiot and full of ****, and whoever reads and believes your stupid stories every morning is no different


oh, and I bet it wasn't democracy they were looking for, just more money because they were poor as **** and tired of ********** hoarding their countries' wealth all for themselves... similar **** is happening here except our protests on wall street are being squashed more effectively as they are ACTUALLY peaceful, and the protesters are too few, not to mentioned not being supplied with arms by foreign militaries

[mooring7]

It would seem to me that the difference in WWII and the defeat of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Imperialist Japan in just a little over 4 years is the lack of American Interests in each of those nations. If you are going to engage your military resources under the title of War then unleash the might and destroy the enemy, and pick up the pieces when your done.... Al Qaeda is activley attempting and have been successful in killing innocent Americans, men, women and children.WE are simply bound by our intrests and have been too hesitant to create the best deterrant to attack and that is destruction of the enemy in the harshest of terms. Or dont go to War at all, and buy them out with the billions its costing to try and hunt them down without colateral damage.

[betterusa]

Why does CBS or any other news agency give these al Qaeda dirt bags any coverage? I understand your function is to report news but this is not news. It's some old, coward that spends his life in hiding and boasting how his group is destroying freedom and democracy. America will never imitate al Qaeda's coward ways by hiding from its enemies, having its soldiers wear hoods or shield from its enemies by using innocent women and children.