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I can hear the Busheep already: "Of course Al Qaeda will lie and say the letter is a fake! They want Bush to look bad!" The sad part is that lot of folks could just as easily see Bush coming up with a fake letter to make himself look good. That's the way they run things in this administration....
Al Qaeda in Iraq: Letter to al-Zarqawi a fake
U.S. official says multiple sources verified document
Thursday, October 13, 2005 Posted: 2039 GMT (0439 HKT)
(CNN) -- Al Qaeda in Iraq said Thursday a letter purportedly from Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a fake, according to a statement on several Islamist Web sites.
The terrorist group denied the letter was from al Qaeda and claimed it was "another fabrication ... by the Black House," using its term for the White House.
CNN has not authenticated the statement, which was posted on several Web sites that often carry messages from al Qaeda in Iraq and was signed by Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the man who acts as the group's spokesperson.
U.S. officials say they intercepted the 6,300-word letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri to al-Zarqawi, head of al Qaeda in Iraq, and released this week a translation of the full text of the manuscript. (Full text)
Responding to al Qaeda in Iraq's denial, a spokesman for the U.S. director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, said top officials in the U.S. government are confident the letter is real.
The spokesman said the letter was "verified by multiple sources over an extended period of time."
After the translation was released Tuesday, a senior U.S. intelligence official described the letter's language as that of "an al Qaeda elder to an occasionally hotheaded field commander."
However, one line near the end of the letter seemed to put into question who the letter was addressing. "By God, if by chance you're going to Falluja, send greetings to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," the letter said.
Falluja is in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, and a hotbed of the Sunni-led insurgency. U.S. officials have said they believe al-Zarqawi has based his operations in the province.
The letter, dated two days after the first London terror attack of July 7, made no mention of those bombings. Officials said the translation was released after it was determined ongoing operations would not be harmed nor would sources be compromised.
The letter outlines a four-stage plan to expand the war in Iraq: Expel U.S. forces, establish an Islamic authority, take the fight to Iraq's secular neighbors and battle with Israel -- "because Israel was established only to challenge any new Islamic entity."
In the letter, the author says he is extremely cut off from information and he needs $100,000 because of the recent capture of a high-ranking operative.
In the letter, the author predicts "the Americans will exit soon."
"Things may develop faster than we imagine. The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam -- and how they ran and left their agents -- is noteworthy. Because of that, we must be ready starting now, before events overtake us," the letter says.
"The mujahedeen must not have their mission end with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq, and then lay down their weapons and silence the fighting zeal."
Insurgents must lay the groundwork for an Islamic state "for every generation to hand over the banner to the one after it," the author writes.
He adds, "The mujahed movement must avoid any action that the masses do not understand or approve."
The author says he is worried that videotaped beheadings of hostages and the insurgent attacks against Shia Muslims have hurt public support of their cause.
"This matter won't be acceptable to the Muslim populace however much you have tried to explain it," he says.
He lists a litany of questions, including, "Can the mujahedeen kill all of the Shia in Iraq? Has any Islamic state in history ever tried that? And why kill ordinary Shia considering they are forgiven because of their ignorance? And what loss will befall us if we did not attack the Shia?"
He says the violent acts could cause al Qaeda to lose what he calls the fight for the "hearts and minds" of Muslims. "I say to you: That we are in a battle, and that more than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media."
According to The Associated Press, Thursday's statement from al Qaeda said, "We call on Muslims not to pay attention to this cheap propaganda and to remember that the media will always be the infidels' sole weapon until the end of the battle."
Al-Zawahiri last appeared in a video shown on the Qatar-based, Arabic-language TV network Al-Jazeera on September 19, a day after Afghanis voted to elect representatives to their national parliament and local legislators in 34 provinces. In the video, he praises the July 7 attack on London's transit system that killed 52 commuters and the four bombers. He also downplays U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.
It was not immediately clear when the video was made, but in it he refers to an article by Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie published August 11 in the London Times.
Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor, and the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi each has a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Al Qaeda in Iraq: Letter to al-Zarqawi a fake
U.S. official says multiple sources verified document
Thursday, October 13, 2005 Posted: 2039 GMT (0439 HKT)
(CNN) -- Al Qaeda in Iraq said Thursday a letter purportedly from Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a fake, according to a statement on several Islamist Web sites.
The terrorist group denied the letter was from al Qaeda and claimed it was "another fabrication ... by the Black House," using its term for the White House.
CNN has not authenticated the statement, which was posted on several Web sites that often carry messages from al Qaeda in Iraq and was signed by Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the man who acts as the group's spokesperson.
U.S. officials say they intercepted the 6,300-word letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri to al-Zarqawi, head of al Qaeda in Iraq, and released this week a translation of the full text of the manuscript. (Full text)
Responding to al Qaeda in Iraq's denial, a spokesman for the U.S. director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, said top officials in the U.S. government are confident the letter is real.
The spokesman said the letter was "verified by multiple sources over an extended period of time."
After the translation was released Tuesday, a senior U.S. intelligence official described the letter's language as that of "an al Qaeda elder to an occasionally hotheaded field commander."
However, one line near the end of the letter seemed to put into question who the letter was addressing. "By God, if by chance you're going to Falluja, send greetings to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," the letter said.
Falluja is in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, and a hotbed of the Sunni-led insurgency. U.S. officials have said they believe al-Zarqawi has based his operations in the province.
The letter, dated two days after the first London terror attack of July 7, made no mention of those bombings. Officials said the translation was released after it was determined ongoing operations would not be harmed nor would sources be compromised.
The letter outlines a four-stage plan to expand the war in Iraq: Expel U.S. forces, establish an Islamic authority, take the fight to Iraq's secular neighbors and battle with Israel -- "because Israel was established only to challenge any new Islamic entity."
In the letter, the author says he is extremely cut off from information and he needs $100,000 because of the recent capture of a high-ranking operative.
In the letter, the author predicts "the Americans will exit soon."
"Things may develop faster than we imagine. The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam -- and how they ran and left their agents -- is noteworthy. Because of that, we must be ready starting now, before events overtake us," the letter says.
"The mujahedeen must not have their mission end with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq, and then lay down their weapons and silence the fighting zeal."
Insurgents must lay the groundwork for an Islamic state "for every generation to hand over the banner to the one after it," the author writes.
He adds, "The mujahed movement must avoid any action that the masses do not understand or approve."
The author says he is worried that videotaped beheadings of hostages and the insurgent attacks against Shia Muslims have hurt public support of their cause.
"This matter won't be acceptable to the Muslim populace however much you have tried to explain it," he says.
He lists a litany of questions, including, "Can the mujahedeen kill all of the Shia in Iraq? Has any Islamic state in history ever tried that? And why kill ordinary Shia considering they are forgiven because of their ignorance? And what loss will befall us if we did not attack the Shia?"
He says the violent acts could cause al Qaeda to lose what he calls the fight for the "hearts and minds" of Muslims. "I say to you: That we are in a battle, and that more than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media."
According to The Associated Press, Thursday's statement from al Qaeda said, "We call on Muslims not to pay attention to this cheap propaganda and to remember that the media will always be the infidels' sole weapon until the end of the battle."
Al-Zawahiri last appeared in a video shown on the Qatar-based, Arabic-language TV network Al-Jazeera on September 19, a day after Afghanis voted to elect representatives to their national parliament and local legislators in 34 provinces. In the video, he praises the July 7 attack on London's transit system that killed 52 commuters and the four bombers. He also downplays U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.
It was not immediately clear when the video was made, but in it he refers to an article by Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie published August 11 in the London Times.
Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor, and the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi each has a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture.
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