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Zawahiri's message: "your -US- assessment is wrong, we're winning"By Walid Phares
Walid Phares The new Zawahiri videotape released by al Jazeera today shows a sophistication in the propaganda war waged by the Jihadists worldwide against the US and its allies. Designed to "crumble" the morale of the American public and "boost" the commitments of the Jihadi forces, the tape is another attempt to score points in the War of ideas and media. The results were immediate in the West. The Associated Press immediate leads were stunning: 1) Zawahiri proves he wasn't killed by the US strike, therefore he scored one point against the US. 2) He labeled his enemy, the US President, as "butcher of Washington," hence attempting to rally the widest anti-American axis as possible AP lead. But the tape is not just that, another message from the number two in al Qaida. It is a very well orchestrated political offensive aimed at the nervous centers of the "enemy's public. A shot that may preceed action or asking for it. Here are the ingredients: The tape shows al Zawahiri addressing the Arab Muslim world and the West at the same time. "Exclusive" to al Jazeera, which controls the timing of the airing of the tape and the selection of the the commentators it gathers to share with the public their "analysis" of the message, the speech is structured thoroughly al Jazeera lead First, the Pakistan component. Al Jazeera summarized: ????? ???????? ?? ????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ????? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ???? 18 ???? ????? ????? ?????, "????? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ?????, ????? ?? ??? ??? ????
Zawahiri said the raid that targeted a village in Waziristan was in coordination with Pakistan's President Musharraf. Hitting the latter while attacking the US intervention aims at mobilizing against The Pakistani leader and forcing his Government to take further distance from Washington. Zawahiri stated that 18 people, including children and women were killed in the raid while aiming at eliminating him and four of his companions. He then stated that only Allah will decide of the time of his death. Therefore, he said "the US and its allies cannot change anything in the plan."
He then moves on the offensive to state:
????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?????? -?? ????? ??? ?????? ???????? ???? ???- ??? ??? ????? ??????? ???, "???? ???? ???? ?????, ????? ??????? ??? ????, ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ??? ????? ?????
"The American President, the butcher of Washington, is not only a liar and a defeated President, but a failure and a traitor and he is dragging his nation into catastrophes."
In a warning to the American and British peoples he states:
??? ???? ???????? ??? ???? ??? ???? ?? ???????, ????? ?? ??????? ???? ????, ????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ????? ?? ???? ?? "???? ????", ????? ?? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ?? ???? ???????, ???? ?? ??????? ???????? ?????????? ?? ????? ?? ??? ????? ???? ??? ????????? ?? ???????? ???? ????? ?? ?????? ??????????
He states that the American refusal to accept the Truce offer by Usama Bin Laden as an honorable way out, under the pretext that the US are winning the war against what it calls Terrorism, is a Bush "mirage." He said the public in the US and the UK should make Bush and Blair responsible for the bodies which will come from Iraq and Afghanistan.
He adds:
?????? ???????? ??? ???? ???????? ??????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ??? ???????? ?? ??????, ????? ?????? ??? ????????, ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ?? ?????? ?????????? ????, ???? ?? ??? ???????? ???????.
If the US winning the War why isn't it withdrawing from Iraq? Why are its soldiers committing suicide? He promised Bush that other battles are coming, not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also inside the United States. Al Jazeera's web title is interesting and indicative:
"Al Zawahiri criticize Bush for refusing the truce and threatens with attacks inside his homeland"
Which seems to be the beef of the message. Al Jazeera's first analysis of the tape was made by two guests who appeared instantly after the airing. From London, M Abdelbari Atwan, the editor of al Quds al Arabi, and frequent intellectual interpreter of Bin Laden's messages went straight for the bottom line: The US, the West must take Bin Laden's offer for a truce seriously. He said Washington think it is winning the war on Terror and is mistaken. He surprisingly criticized the "so-called Terrorism experts" within the US Government and in the media who states that al Qaida is in trouble. (A very and unusual statement that indicates that a special observation of the analysis by Terrorism experts in the West is ongoing). M Atwan said the West must recognize the fact that negotiations with al Qaida are a must. The second guest, M Larry Johnson, a former US Marine, recently hired by al Jazeera, appeared from Washington and mildly underlined that al Qaida has credibility in its own midst.
As I argued on MSNBC in my first assessment, along with my colleague Ret Col Rick Francona (NBC analyst), the most important impact of the tape is going to be in which way the Western and Arab commentators will "explain" the tape MSNBC link. From a global and immediate analysis of the message the bottom line is about how to explain the War between the US-led coalition and the Jihadi-led Al Qaida axis. The Jihadi camp is increasingly concerned that out of the West and the Arab world, a new analysis is explaining that it is al Qaida which is not achieving its goals with the peoples it wants to enlist. It is against this particular analysis of the War on Terror, that the "architects" of the tape are attempting to redress the political situation in their own midst.
Dr Walid Phares is a senior fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the author of Future Jihad. www.futurejihad.com
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» THE NEW ZAWAHIRI TAPE from Michelle Malkin
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