New Messages to Bush from Al Qaeda
Just what we need... more ammo for Bush to try and push Patriot Act II.
Quote:
A senior leader of Al Qaeda threatened further attacks against the United States and lambasted France for banning Islamic head scarves in messages coming on two audiotapes broadcast by separate Arab satellite channels today.
The recordings, apparently made by Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the top lieutenant to Osama bin Laden, were of recent vintage since one mocked remarks from President Bush's State of the Union speech in January and the other referred to December developments in the French debate over head scarves.
"We remind Bush that he did not crush two-thirds of Al Qaeda," the recording broadcast on Al Jazeera said. "On the contrary, thanks be to God, Al Qaeda remains on the battleground of the holy war, raising the banner of Islam in the face of the Zionist-Crusader campaign against the Islamic community."
In his State of the Union speech, Mr. Bush had said that almost two-thirds of the known leadership of Al Qaeda had been either captured or killed. The recording on Al Jazeera, which one unidentified staff member in Qatar said sounded similar in cadence and vocabulary to previous messages from Dr. Zawahiri, expressed wonder that the leader of a superpower could deliver a speech full of lies.
"Bush, fortify your defenses and intensify your security measures," the tape said, "because the Muslim nation, which sent brigades to New York and Washington, has decided to send you one brigade after another, carrying death and seeking paradise."
Dr. Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon, repeated the charge that the war on terrorism is really a war on Islam and condemned Islamic leaders cooperating with it. "Bush appoints corrupt leaders and protects them," the tape said. "A glance at the Islamic world from Morocco to Indonesia will reveal those U.S.-backed leaders."
In Washington, George J. Tenet, the C.I.A. director, said in testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today that Al Qaeda retained the ability to carry out attacks.
"Even catastrophic attacks on the scale of 9/11 remain within Al Qaeda's reach," Mr. Tenet said. "Make no mistake, these plots are hatched abroad, but they target U.S. soil or that of our allies."
The C.I.A. habitually takes a day or two to confirm such tapes as authentic, but there appeared to be no reason to doubt the voice on the two tapes, which sounded similar, was that of Dr. Zawahiri.
The second tape, broadcast on the Dubai-based Al Arabiya network, singled out France for its pending ban on head scarves in state schools.
The recording said the ban "is new evidence of the extent of the Crusaders' hatred for Muslims, even if they brag about democracy, freedom and human rights."
"France, the country of liberty," the tape goes on, "defends only the liberty of nudity, debauchery and decay, while fighting chastity and modesty."
The recording also singled out Sheik Mohammed Tantawi, the grand imam of Al Azhar University in Cairo, saying his support for the French decision was a "scandal." Sheik Tantawi said in late December that Muslims in France must respect French law.
Although France's vocal position against the war in Iraq has won it praise in the Arab world, this is not the first time that it has been singled out by Al Qaeda. A French supertanker, the Limburg, was attacked by a suicide bomber off the coast of Yemen in October 2002, killing one crewman.
That attack came on the same day as another audiotape from Dr. Zawahiri, in which he said Al Qaeda was sending message to allies of the United States to cease cooperating with it. Intelligence agencies around the world believe that the recordings from Dr. Zawahiri or Mr. bin Laden could include signals to their operatives to launch attacks.
The two men are believed to be in hiding together in the mountains along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They appeared together walking in a similarly rugged setting in a videotape released last September.
A senior leader of Al Qaeda threatened further attacks against the United States and lambasted France for banning Islamic head scarves in messages coming on two audiotapes broadcast by separate Arab satellite channels today.
The recordings, apparently made by Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the top lieutenant to Osama bin Laden, were of recent vintage since one mocked remarks from President Bush's State of the Union speech in January and the other referred to December developments in the French debate over head scarves.
"We remind Bush that he did not crush two-thirds of Al Qaeda," the recording broadcast on Al Jazeera said. "On the contrary, thanks be to God, Al Qaeda remains on the battleground of the holy war, raising the banner of Islam in the face of the Zionist-Crusader campaign against the Islamic community."
In his State of the Union speech, Mr. Bush had said that almost two-thirds of the known leadership of Al Qaeda had been either captured or killed. The recording on Al Jazeera, which one unidentified staff member in Qatar said sounded similar in cadence and vocabulary to previous messages from Dr. Zawahiri, expressed wonder that the leader of a superpower could deliver a speech full of lies.
"Bush, fortify your defenses and intensify your security measures," the tape said, "because the Muslim nation, which sent brigades to New York and Washington, has decided to send you one brigade after another, carrying death and seeking paradise."
Dr. Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon, repeated the charge that the war on terrorism is really a war on Islam and condemned Islamic leaders cooperating with it. "Bush appoints corrupt leaders and protects them," the tape said. "A glance at the Islamic world from Morocco to Indonesia will reveal those U.S.-backed leaders."
In Washington, George J. Tenet, the C.I.A. director, said in testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today that Al Qaeda retained the ability to carry out attacks.
"Even catastrophic attacks on the scale of 9/11 remain within Al Qaeda's reach," Mr. Tenet said. "Make no mistake, these plots are hatched abroad, but they target U.S. soil or that of our allies."
The C.I.A. habitually takes a day or two to confirm such tapes as authentic, but there appeared to be no reason to doubt the voice on the two tapes, which sounded similar, was that of Dr. Zawahiri.
The second tape, broadcast on the Dubai-based Al Arabiya network, singled out France for its pending ban on head scarves in state schools.
The recording said the ban "is new evidence of the extent of the Crusaders' hatred for Muslims, even if they brag about democracy, freedom and human rights."
"France, the country of liberty," the tape goes on, "defends only the liberty of nudity, debauchery and decay, while fighting chastity and modesty."
The recording also singled out Sheik Mohammed Tantawi, the grand imam of Al Azhar University in Cairo, saying his support for the French decision was a "scandal." Sheik Tantawi said in late December that Muslims in France must respect French law.
Although France's vocal position against the war in Iraq has won it praise in the Arab world, this is not the first time that it has been singled out by Al Qaeda. A French supertanker, the Limburg, was attacked by a suicide bomber off the coast of Yemen in October 2002, killing one crewman.
That attack came on the same day as another audiotape from Dr. Zawahiri, in which he said Al Qaeda was sending message to allies of the United States to cease cooperating with it. Intelligence agencies around the world believe that the recordings from Dr. Zawahiri or Mr. bin Laden could include signals to their operatives to launch attacks.
The two men are believed to be in hiding together in the mountains along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They appeared together walking in a similarly rugged setting in a videotape released last September.