Will McCants
November 28, 2008
In part 8, Sayyid Imam continues to hammer al-Qaeda for bringing disaster to the Middle East and for the hypocrisy of its leaders. He
- puts forward the odd claim that AQ lied to the U.S. about WMD in Iraq and about AQ ties with Iraq to push the U.S. to invade
- observes that Iran and Syria have been the primary beneficiaries of AQ’s antics in Iraq
- notes what any observer of the region already knows but rarely says: bashing the U.S. and Israel and talking about the Palestinian issue is great PR
- offers an excellent explanation as to why AQ will not get a foothold in the Palestinian territories
- claims that Bin Laden gave Saudi donations for jihad to Nawaz Sharif in support of his candidacy against Benazir Bhutto
Continuing…
Z claims that only the mujahids have thrawted the plans of the U.S. That’s like Gamal Abdel Nasser’s slogan after the ’67 defeat that “no voice rises above the voice of battle” in order to silence his critics.
AQ brought the U.S. into the region and caused it to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan. It gave the U.S. false information about WMD in Iraq and tying Iraq to al-Qaeda to give the U.S. the excuse to invade Iraq. They did this to lure the U.S. into a battlefield where it could be destroyed. But AQ killed far more Iraqis than it killed Americans. It brought the U.S. in and excommunicated the people of Iraq solely to fulfill its desire to fight America.
Z claims that AQ thwarted the plans of the U.S. but the truth is the opposite. Wherever AQ goes, it brings destruction to Muslims.
Those who have benefitted from the killing in Iraq are first Iran, then Syria. Is Syria facilitating those who seek to fight in Iraq out its love for jihad, for the Iraqis, or for its own self interest? Aren’t some of the leaders of AQ who are encouraging others to fight in Iraq located in Iran, particularly the son of UBL? Is fighting for the interests of Syria and Iran a jihad? Hasn’t Z previously paid his brothers to fight in Egypt in service of Sudanese intel? Isn’t killing the Iraqis and demolishing their homes exactly what Jews are doing to Palestinians? Is this jihad or even thwarting the plans of America? Wasn’t Iraq part of the Abode of Islam under Saddam before the American occupation? Didn’t al-Qaeda, at the hands of Zarqawi, trigger a sectarian civil war in Iraq by killing the Shia en masse? Haven’t the Sunnis paid the ultimate price for this? Killing the Iraqi Shia only strengthened their ties to Iran and facilitated Iranian involvement in Iraq, whereas it did nothing but weaken the Sunni position in Iraq.
Does the mentality that lost an actual Islamic state in Afghanistan really believe that an Islamic state will be established in Iraq and not just on the Internet? Are the Islamic peoples to be test animals for Bin Laden’s and Zawahiri’s experiment?
No one is more pleased with al-Qaeda today than Iran and Syria. All they have to do is turn a blind eye to the fighters who travel through their countries to blow themselves up, which serves Iranian and Syrian interests.
8) One of Z’s ignorant beliefs is that he proves the truth of what he says by pointing to the number of his followers.
Z says I heaped abuse on Bin Laden, but then he asks which of us has better understood reality and affected more of Muslim youth and masses? (Exoneration, p. 10)
The truth is known by its agreement with the Sharia, not by the number of its followers.
I have not called on anyone to follow me. I am only relaying what I think is right according to the Sharia.
Aren’t those who extol Bin Laden the same people that previously extolled Saddam Hussein?
Z’s words [ie the truth of what you say is proven by the number of your followers] indicate a fundamental aspect of his character: he has always been looking for fame and he is willing to get it by killing the innocent.
* One of the deceptions of Z is his trading on the Palestinian question
It is well-known that the fastest way to gain popularity among the Arab and Muslim masses is to bash the United States and Israel and talk a great deal about the Palestinian issue. Nasser did it, Saddam did it, Ahmadinejad does it, as do others. However, these people have actually done something for Palestinians, particularly Nasser, whereas Bin Laden and Z just talk. Z even says in his Exoneration that “the slogan which the masses of the Muslim umma have understood and responded to well for 50 years is the slogan of calling for jihad against Israel. Moreover, in this decade the umma is mobilized by the American presence in the heart of the Islamic world.” [I think this quote is from Knights but haven’t checked it yet]
Z and Bin Laden talk about Palestinian children being hurt but not about the death they bring to the children of Afghanistan.
* Why doesn’t al-Qaeda undertake operations in Palestine?
If Al-Qaeda is so interested in the Palestinian question, why hasn’t it undertaken operations against the Jews there? There are two reasons. First, killing Jews is not one of Bin Laden’s priorities. Second, al-Qaeda is an organization without a state; wherever it is, it is a stranger. One can’t carry out operations in a country without the help of some of the people in that country.
Al-Qaeda has failed to ally with any of the Palestinian organizations for four reasons:
1) Palestinian organizations don’t trust Bin Laden. There’s no room to explain here, but it is an old matter from the days of the Afghan jihad.
2) Al-Qaeda has nothing to offer Palestinian groups militarily since the latter are far more advanced. Indeed, Al-Qaeda relied on the cadres of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad trained by the Palestinian groups in Lebanon from 1990 to 1992.
3) Different tactics with respect to the use of force. Bin Laden uses blind force to kill as many people as possible, even if it leads to the destruction of his organization–“organizational suicide.” Palestinian organizations, on the other hand, use limited force to make gains against the enemy while ensuring the survival of their organization. They follow the traditional principles of guerrilla war, the “war of the flea and the dog.” Bin Laden’s new way is the war of the elephant, which makes mass killing the goal.
4) Palestinian organizations don’t need Bin Laden’s money since they have their own resources, just as they are more politically sophisticated than Bin Laden.
This is why Al-Qaeda has failed to ally with Palestinian groups and failed to gain a foothold in Palestine. That’s why Z in his recent statement called for the Bedouin of Sinai to engage in jihad in Palestine. It’s just propaganda.
When the Palestinian organizations rebuffed al-Qaeda, Z started criticizing them. Z accused Hamas of killing Jewish children with their missiles. Is this a rational person? What about the innocents al-Qaeda has killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Algeria, and elsewhere? Is what is permitted for Al-Qaeda forbidden for Hamas? Z is sad for Jewish children but kills Muslim children.
Z accuses Hamas of participating in elections on the basis of a secular constitution. Why does Z criticize Hamas only? Why not also criticize his shaykh Bin Laden? Bin Laden paid a lot of money in support of Nawaz Sharif in parliamentary elections in Pakistan against Benazir Bhutto. This was money for jihad that Saudis had give Bin Laden. When I found out about this in 1992, I said to Abu Hafs al-Masri, who was the one who gave the money to Nawaz Sharif, “Abu Hafs! By God, Bin Laden is leading you to Hell!”
Document (Arabic): 11-27-08-al-masry-al-youm-denudation-part-8
