February 14, 2008
Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader Chides Hamas for not Destroying Israel
A new audio tape by a fictitious character, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head the fictitious group "The Islamic State of Iraq", chides Hamas for not destroying Israel in a timely fashion. The Islamic State of Iraq is what al Qaeda in Iraq calls itself these days. Al Qaeda believes that selling itself as an Islamist government-in-waiting lends legitimacy.
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is a fictitious character, probably played by a hired actor, who speaks for the group. Again, by presenting an Iraqi as the leader of al Qaeda they are trying to present the group as part of the native insurgency and not as a bunch of foreign terrorists. Al Qaeda in Iraq was founded & run by Jordanian Abu Musab al Zarqawi until he was killed by U.S. forces.
Today's audio urges the military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, to rise up against the Hamas government which has become apostate by not destroying Israel fast enough, and then to go on to liberate Jerusalem. He also calls Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an apostate worthy of the same fate as the Jews. Al Baghdadi goes on to warn that his group is planning future attacks against Israel and the U.S. outside of Iraq.
Is it just me, or is threatening Israel always the last act of desperation from the enemies of the United States in the Muslim world? I seem to recall Saddam Hussein threatening to blow up Israel, not the U.S., if Coalition forces were to attack---twice. So, this could be yet another sign of the weakening of al Qaeda's position in Iraq. The last desperate act of losers in the Arab world is always to focus attention away from the conflict at hand and towards Israel.
Related:
AP article on new tape.
Leader of Islamic State of Iraq Captured, al-Baghdadi is Sock Puppet
