Cracks Showing?
Interesting article in the Washington Post this morning that details indications that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second in command of Al-Qaeda may be losing his grip on the organization. His messages seem to indicate a growing frustration with other Islamists and an attempt to gather them in closer to his ideology.
Zawahiri's visibility, eclipsing Osama bin Laden's, reminds al-Qaeda's enemies that the network is capable of more attacks. But a closer look at his speeches and writings, and interviews with several longtime associates in radical Islamic circles, suggest another motive: fear of losing his ideological grip over a revolutionary movement he has nurtured for 40 years.
But his efforts appear to be almost desperate:
The schisms are reflected in Zawahiri's many speeches, in which he has attempted to assert influence over a host of seemingly unrelated issues: the war in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, elections in Egypt, oil production in Saudi Arabia and obscure questions of Muslim theology.
He is risking his credibility among Islamic radicals by speaking out on so many subjects, according to Osama Rushdi, an Egyptian who spent three years in a Cairo prison with Zawahiri in the 1980s and now lives in exile in Britain.
Particularly revealing is his deep fear of democracy and what it could do to stifle his ideals. He warns Hamas:
"Power is not an end in itself. Real power is application of sharia on earth," he said. "Entering the same parliament as the lay people, recognizing their legitimacy and the accords they have signed is contrary to Islam."
The lecture echoed comments made by Zawahiri on Jan. 6, when he ripped the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood for taking part in last year's elections in his native Egypt, where the al-Qaeda figure got his start in radical Islamic politics as a teenager and medical student.
He also notes that much of this war is actually being fought in the media. It would be a good idea for our media to be on our side in that battle.
By Black Jack, April 17, 2006 @ 11:19 am
Now, there’s a mouthful. “It would be a good idea for our media to be on our side in that battle.” Good Luck.
“Our” media is the most powerful force opposing us in the War on Terror. “Our” media is openly allied with Osama, Zawahiri, Zarqawi, et al. “Our” media detests our President and is doing everything it can to bring him, and us, down. “Our” media is our enemy.
It is “our” media which can’t seem to report accurately on much of anything. They downplay the strength of our economy, they celebrate every loony war critic, they refuse to report positive events in the Iraq, and they undermine our troops in the field every chance they get.
I’d like to see them all exposed for exactly what they are: allies and apologists for terrorism.
By Gauis Arbo, April 17, 2006 @ 11:23 am
I think they are being blinded by ideology. See the Yale post I put up today, that pretty well explains what’s wrong.