Al-Qaida-Iraq's Message to the New "Rulers of the White House"

By Walid Phares

Reactions to the election of a new U.S. president are fusing from across the Arab and Muslim world. Reflecting the fundamental interests of the various regimes and movements, the most radical groups - including al-Qaida - have been sending messages in different directions.

While we will come back later to draw a wider map of these attitudes, hopes or worries, let's note a particular declaration made by al-Qaida's central figure in Iraq (or so he is projected to be) in which he outlines his conditions to deal with America in the new era.

Few days ago, a jihadist outlet, al-Furqan, released an audio speech by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, self-described as the "emir of the Islamic State of Iraq."

The under 30-minute Internet broadcast was titled, "Message to the New Governors of the White House (and Other Christian Leaders)." It can also be translated as "to the new rulers," i.e. the president and vice president-elect.

After a mandatory "theological" segment taking on Christians, Jews and apostate Muslims, the speech wandered erratically between issues high on the jihadist agenda worldwide, particularly on the necessity for the United States to call it quits in the region and pull out.

In essence Baghdadi, one of al-Qaida's most lethal "generals" on the battlefields of the Middle East, asked the United States under the new administration to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan and to withdraw its military presence from the Muslim world.

Interestingly, his message to whom he described as the new "governors," or technically, "masters" of the White House, connect with a dominant theme throughout not only al-Qaida's command but also the jihadist forces and regimes around the world.

Ideologically, despite their divisions and diverse strategies, the Salafists and Khomeinists have a common approach on how to deal with the United States. And this attitude has been embodied by multiple speeches, statements, and declarations since the early 1990s.

From the powerful doctrinal positions of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi on al-Jazeera, al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the "agenda" is one: the United States must pull its forces outside the region and keep them inside its own borders.

Baghdadi and many other jihadist commanders, commentators and activists see the big picture as an effort, or a jihad, against all kuffar (infidel) forces in the region. In his speech addressed to the new U.S. leadership, al-Qaida Iraq's "emir" also warned France and Russia from interfering inside the borders of his future caliphate.

He specifically asked the "White House, the Elysee and the Kremlin" to back-off from Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya. Listening to the audio allows one to understand the mindset of the terrorists we're dealing with: they have a one-world view even if they are "local," which contradicts the recent assertion by many experts in the field.

And to underline the jihadist historical view of the world, "Abu Omar" reminds America that a century ago America was a "neutral" nation, growing peacefully until it began intervening in foreign wars, including the conflicts with empires, fascists and the Soviets.

And as I argued in my book "Future Jihad," he reveals that the U.S. menace is really about provoking changes within Muslim countries: changes, of course, which would encourage democracy against jihadism.

Increasingly, observers of this global movement must see the overarching dimension of the conflict with the Salafists and Khomeinists. It is not about George W. Bush or Barack Obama, or about Jacques Chirac or Nikolas Sarkozy, Boris Yeltsin or Vladimir Putin.

It is about pushing for a jihadist agenda. "Get your troops out and be neutral in this conflict," has become the main slogan of jihadist propaganda for many years now. If anything it clearly indicates to analysts that the Salafist agenda, for example, wants to settle scores with local societies and seize power in Arab and Muslim lands without being delayed by U.S. power.

This is the core of their contemporary confrontation with Washington's policies. They want to establish Taliban regimes in as many countries as they can, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Baghdadi ends his summations by revealing his conditions for a "new stage." In addition to pulling out and not interfering with the action of his movement, he wants an immediate release of all prisoners.

Even more revealing was his offer to sell oil to the United States at a fair price and authorize commerce with America. Stunningly to many, al-Qaida acts as if it is already the forthcoming caliphate, setting the agenda for the entire region.

It is not surprising to me, because for decades I have argued that democracies are dealing with a force possessing a political agenda of its own, not with individuals who are reacting to Western - or American - foreign policies.

If anything, these statements by al-Qaida, and other similar attitudes expressed by political propagandists, remind us of typical totalitarians in action: using terrorism whenever they judge it efficient to intimidate their foes and confuse their adversaries. The unwavering goal is to advance and consolidate their positions. The national-socialists and the fascists of the 1930s and WWII are, in this sense, authentic predecessors of the 21st century jihadists.

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Dr. Walid Phares is the director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the author of The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future Jihad.

This article was also published today in the Middle East Times.

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