Religion, Nationalism, and Terror

Bin Laden in Palestinian call, BBC, March 21, 2008

“The nearest jihad battlefield to support our people in Palestine is the battlefield of Iraq,” the speaker said.

The message, aired on al-Jazeera TV, comes a day after the al-Qaeda leader threatened the EU over the reprint of a cartoon deemed offensive to Muslims.

The messages coincide with the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.

BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson says they follow a familiar pattern, with Bin Laden touching on an issue he knows resonates with many Muslims

‘Fire and iron’

In the second message in two days, the speaker dismissed attempts at reconciliation in the Middle East.

“Palestine cannot be retaken by negotiations and dialogue, but with fire and iron,” he said.

New Bin Laden tape threatens EU, BBC, March 20, 2008

In a new audio message purportedly from Osama Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader threatens the EU over the re-printing of a cartoon offensive to Muslims.

The voice on it says the cartoon, re-published recently in all major Danish newspapers, was part of a crusade involving Pope Benedict XVI.

The drawing, first published in 2005, depicts the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.

The voice on the audio has not yet been verified as belonging to Bin Laden.

The message comes on the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

But the BBC’s Jonathan Beale in Washington says that the message was probably released to not to mark that anniversary, but rather the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Muhammad, which Sunni Muslims mark on Thursday.

It appeared on a Islamist website that has carried al-Qaeda messages in the past.

Over the audio is a graphic with a still image of Bin Laden holding an AK-47 and bearing the logo of al-Sahab, the media wing of al-Qaeda. There is a written translation of the message in English.

‘Crowd pleaser’

John Pike, director of the defence think tank GlobalSecurity.org, said bin Laden had chosen to talk about the cartoon in an effort to remain relevant and provide direction to followers.

“His judgement is that it’s a consistent crowd-pleaser, and that if he has any hope of getting people stirred up, this is probably a good way to try to do it.”

Last month, Denmark’s leading newspapers reprinted one of 12 cartoons that first angered many Muslims when they were originally published in September 2005.

Anger in the Muslim world peaked in 2006 as newspapers in other countries published the cartoons.

USG Open Source Center summary and partial translation of Bin Laden’s tape of December 29, 2007, as posted on Juan Cole’s blog Informed Comment on December 30, 2007

On 29 December, a participant in a jihadist website posted several links to a 56-minute audio message by Al-Qa’ida Organization leader Usama Bin Ladin entitled “The Way to Foil Plots” produced by the Al-Sahab Media Production Organization, the media arm of Al-Qa’ida Organization.

The audio recording plays against the background of a still image of Bin Ladin and a map of Iraq.

Bin Ladin begins his message by addressing the Islamic nation in general, the “patient and steadfast people in Iraq’s fronts and fortress towns,” the “leaders of mujahidin groups and shura councils,” and “the chieftains of free and proud tribes.”

Bin Ladin says: “My talk to you is about the plots that are being hatched by the Zionist-Crusader alliance, led by America, in cooperation with its agents in the region, to steal the fruit of blessed jihad in the land of two rivers, and what we should do to foil these plots. It is no secret that America is using all military and political means to entrench its troops in Iraq. Having realized its military failure, it stepped up its political and media efforts to deceive Muslims. One of its wicked schemes was to tempt the tribes and buy their allegiance to form the councils of dissension, which they termed as awakening councils.”

He notes that “many” tribes refused to form such councils. He beseeches God to help these tribes to adhere to this stand. He accuses late Abd-al-Sattar Abu-Rishah, founder of Al-Anbar Awakening Council, of “betraying the religion and nation.”

Pew Global Attitudes Project: III. Islam, Modernity and Terrorism: The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other, June 13, 2007

In Jordan, confidence in bin Laden has plummeted since May 2005. A year ago, 25% of Jordanians said they had a lot of confidence in bin Laden to “do the right thing regarding world affairs,” while another 35% said they had some confidence. Today, almost no Jordanians (fewer than 1%) express a lot of confidence in bin Laden, and 24% say they have some confidence in him.

In Pakistan, confidence in bin Laden also has fallen, though not quite as dramatically. In May 2005, a majority of Pakistanis (51%) expressed at least some confidence in bin Laden; that number has declined to 38% in the current survey.

To be sure, bin Laden still has followers in the Muslim world. Fully 61% of Muslims in Nigeria express a lot of confidence (33%) or some confidence (28%) in bin Laden; that represents a significant increase from May 2003 (44%). Bin Laden’s standing in Pakistan has eroded, but more Pakistanis still express at least some confidence in bin Laden than say they have little or no confidence in him (by 38% to 30%). And a third of Indonesians continue to express at least some confidence in the al Qaeda leader.

Among European Muslims, only about one-in-twenty Muslims in Germany and France express even some confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs. But that figure rises to 14% among Muslims in Great Britain, and 16% of Spanish Muslims.

aljazeera.net, December 29, 2007, بن لادن يدعو “لرفض خطة أميركية للسيطرة على نفط العراق”

دعا زعيم تنظيم القاعدة أسامة بن لادن العراقيين لرفض “خطة أميركية بتشكيل حكومة جديدة من أجل السيطرة على إمدادات النفط وبناء قواعد عسكرية والهيمنة على المنطقة”

وقال بن لادن في تسجيل صوتي على شبكة الإنترنت إن من يشاركون في الخطة “يخرجون من ملة الإسلام”, مشيرا إلى أن الهدف من الخطة هو إعطاء الأميركيين كل ما يريدونه من نفط العراق

وكانت الجزيرة بثت في أكتوبر/تشرين الماضي تسجيلا صوتيا منسوبا لزعيم تنظيم القاعدة حمل عنوان “رسالة لأهل العراق”, دعا فيها تنظيمه والجماعات المسلحة إلى نبذ التعصب وتوحيد صفوفها وتغليب مصلحة الأمة الإسلامية على ما عداها وتحكيم شرع الله في كل أمر.

Bin Laden Discusses Iraq and Israel, AP, New York Times, December 29, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Osama bin Laden warned Iraq’s Sunni Arabs against fighting al-Qaida and vowed to expand the terror group’s holy war to Israel in a new audiotape Saturday, threatening ”blood for blood, destruction for destruction.”

Most of the 56-minute tape dealt with Iraq, apparently al-Qaida’s latest attempt to keep supporters in Iraq unified at a time when the U.S. military claims to have al-Qaida’s Iraq branch on the run.

The tape did not mention Pakistan or the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, though Pakistan’s government has blamed al-Qaida and the Taliban for her death on Thursday.

But bin Laden’s comments offered an unusually direct attack on Israel, which has warned of growing al-Qaida activity in Palestinian territory. The terror network is not believed to have taken a strong role there so far.

”We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the (Jordan) river to the sea,” he said, threatening ”blood for blood, destruction for destruction.”

”We will not recognize even one inch for Jews in the land of Palestine as other Muslim leaders have,” bin Laden said.

In Iraq, a number of Sunni Arab tribes in western Anbar province have formed a coalition fighting al-Qaida-linked insurgents that U.S. officials credit for deeply reducing violence in the province. The U.S. military has been working to form similar ”Awakening Councils” in other areas of Iraq.

Bin Laden: Europe must quit Afghan war - Terrorism- msnbc.com, November 29, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden called on the Europeans to stop helping the United States in the war in Afghanistan, according to excerpts of a new audiotape broadcast Thursday on Al-Jazeera television.

Bin Laden said it was unjust for the United States to have invaded Afghanistan for sheltering him after the 9/11 attacks, saying he was the “only one responsible” for the deadly assaults on New York and Washington.

“The events of Manhattan were retaliation against the American-Israeli alliance’s aggression against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, and I am the only one responsible for it. The Afghan people and government knew nothing about it. America knows that,” the al-Qaida leader said.

THE TRAIN BOMBER Jamal Ahmidan, top left, known to friends as Chino, turned from drug dealing to terror. THE MEN WHO LEFT Clockwise, from top right: In 2006, Bilal Ben Aboud, Muncif Ben Aboud, Abdelmunim Amakchar Elamrani, Hamza Akhlifa and Younes Achbak departed to wage jihad in Iraq.

Andrea Elliott, Where Boys Grow Up to Be Jihadis, New York Times Magazine, November 25, 2007

If there is one outlet for the neighborhood’s wellspring of male energy, it is soccer. In the summer, hundreds of boys gather on bleachers to watch as players glide across a worn, concrete pitch, some of them barefoot. Sitting around the bleachers one afternoon in July, a group of teenagers talked to me about their heroes. They said they worshipped Zinédine Zidane, the Muslim of Algerian descent who conquered the soccer world from France. They loved the Prophet Muhammad. The mere mention of Osama bin Laden elicited a sea of upturned thumbs.

“He’s very courageous,” said Ayman, a short, spunky 13-year-old with honey-colored skin. “Nobody did what he did. He challenges the whole world. He even challenges George Bush.”

Another teenage boy said he would gladly volunteer to fight the American occupation in Iraq if it meant bringing independence to Iraqis. “We want to help our Muslim brothers,” he told me. Of the Americans, he added: “If they kill us, we go to God. If we stay here, there is joblessness.”

Munson: Scheuer ignores the fact that Sunni militias armed by the US have been defeating al-Qaeda in Iraq and bin Laden knows it. Bin Laden can of course portray Iraq as a great victory in the sense that the US is bogged down in a prolonged and ultimately unwinnable war that has intensified the hostility toward the US that facilitates recruitment by militant Islamic groups like al-Qaeda. But the fact remains that Shiite fundamentalists–supported to various degrees by Iran–will continue to control most of Iraq. Such people are fundamentally hostile to the anti-Shiite fundamentalism of Sunni groups like al-Qaeda in Iraq, which have absolutely no chance of ever taking control of the Iraqi government. Al-Qaeda’s vision of a Wahhabi state in Iraq is as chimerical as the Bush administration’s vision of a docile pro-American state that would serve as a model of “the new Middle East.”

Scheuer, Bin Laden talks of victory, not defeat, Asia Times Online, November 22, 2007

Nearly a month since Osama bin Laden published his message to “our people in Iraq”, it is worth taking a look at what bin Laden really said versus what the media, Western leaders and some prematurely mirthful pundits claim he said.

In the most obvious sense, bin Laden’s October 23 statement is a post-Iraq war statement and a further development of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s 2005 message to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the now dead leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. From al-Qaeda’s perspective, the war is over and Islam has won; Washington’s announcement last week that it intends to begin the withdrawal of 3,000 troops, as well as the US Congress’ recess without renewing war funding, will bolster this perception. Bin Laden’s message is, however, a warning to all Iraqi mujahideen - Sunni and Shi’ite - that the hardest task is yet to come: namely, the creation of an Islamist state in Iraq.

Bin Laden’s October 23 message builds on the July 2005 letter from Zawahiri to Zarqawi. At that time, Zawahiri told Zarqawi that the mujahideen had beaten the US-led coalition and urged him to prepare for US withdrawal, which might, he added, be “precipitous”. Bin Laden’s October message mirrors Zawahiri’s in concluding that the US coalition has been beaten, and in stating that the only unknown is the precise moment of its withdrawal.

There is nothing in bin Laden’s statement that criticizes the mujahideen for not fighting well - indeed, he refers to “magnificent victories” that make Americans “prisoners of their bases and the Green Zone” - much less anything that suggests they are losing. “The world has stood stunned, amazed, delighted and wonder-struck” over the Iraqi mujahideen’s effectiveness and perseverance, the al-Qaeda chief said.

al-Jazeera, october 22, 2007 - بن لادن يدعو المقاتلين للتوحد وتغليب مصلحة المسلمين

دعا زعيم تنظيم القاعدة أسامة بن لادن الجماعات المسلحة بما فيها القاعدة التي تتحرك في العراق ومناطق أخرى من العالم، إلى توحيد صفوفها تحت راية واحدة ونبذ الخلاف والتعصب.

وشدد بن لادن في تسجيل صوتي جديد منسوب إليه حمل عنوان “رسالة لأهل العراق” وبثته قناة الجزيرة مساء أمس، على ضرورة تغليب مصلحة الأمة الإسلامية على ما عداها وتحكيم الشرع في كل خلاف.

ودعا من سماهم المجاهدين في العراق إلى تحقيق “واجب” يتمثل في أن “توحدوا صفوفكم فتجعلوها صفا واحدا كما يحب الله”، مؤكدا أن قوة الإيمان هي الرابطة بين المسلمين وليس الانتساب إلى القبيلة أو الوطنية أو التنظيم، وأن مصلحة الأمة الإسلامية تتجاوز مصلحة الجماع

Peter Bergen, How Osama Bin Laden Beat George W. Bush, TNR, October 15, 2007

The removal of Saddam Hussein would prove to be a boon to Al Qaeda–creating a base for the terrorist organization where none had existed before, energizing jihadists around the word, and confirming for many Muslims bin Laden’s contention that the United States was at war with Islam….

As the administration’s own 2006 National Intelligence Estimate explains, “[T]he Iraq War has become the [`]cause celebre’ for jihadists … and is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives.”

Al Qaeda leaders release new videos | csmonitor.com, 9/21/2007

Al Qaeda intensified its propaganda campaign Thursday by issuing its third video since the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. In a lengthy commentary, Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri urged Muslims to fight the United States and its allies, targeting the prospect of African Union and United Nations peacekeepers in Darfur. Later on Thursday, Al Qaeda released a new recording of Osama bin Laden declaring war on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Pakistan’s Army.

Poll: Bin Laden tops Musharraf in Pakistan - CNN.com, September 11, 2007

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf — a key U.S. ally — is less popular in his own country than al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to a poll of Pakistanis conducted last month by an anti-terrorism organization….

According to poll results, bin Laden has a 46 percent approval rating. Musharraf’s support is 38 percent. U.S. President George W. Bush’s approval: 9 percent.

Asked their opinion on the real purpose of the U.S.-led war on terror, 66 percent of poll respondents said they believe the United States is acting against Islam or has anti-Muslim motivation.

New Video Raises Questions on Bin Laden | World Latest, AP, September 12, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Two messages from Osama bin Laden in a matter of days have revived the game of questions over his health and whereabouts, but they also made clear he is al-Qaida’s propaganda “top gun,” able to draw attention in the West and strike a chord among sympathizers.

In a new video released Tuesday, bin Laden’s voice was heard commemorating one of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers and calling on young Muslims to follow his example in martyring themselves in attacks.

It came on the heels of a video released Saturday containing the first new images of the terror movement’s leader in nearly three years. It showed him urging Americans to convert to Islam and railing against capitalism, globalization and democracy as failed philosophies.

Bin Laden’s new image: younger, more Marxist | csmonitor.com, September 13, 2007

AFTER A THREE-YEAR absence, Osama bin Laden has resurfaced in another of his rousing videotapes, only this time with a new image and a new message. Projecting a younger look, Mr. bin Laden gives his most ideological address since the early 1990s with an assault on capitalism and liberal democracy loaded with Marxist and socialist terms. Indeed, this new bin Laden sounds more like Che Guevara, the Marxist revolutionary, than some of his rifle-toting Al Qaeda cohorts.