I don’t know if y’all’ve heard, but they found this letter that al-Qa’eda’s Number Two Goon, Ayman al-Zawahiri sent to Number Three Goon, Abu Musab Zarqawi (the head evil dude in Iraq).
If you read between the lines of the letter, things sound really good. Good for US, that is. BAD for al-Qa’eda.
Zawahiri is diplomatically warning Zarqawi that he’s screwing things up.
He has to be diplomatic about it, though, because their organization is so weak that he (a) has no effective control over Zarqawi and (b) is so hard up for cash that he politely asks for Zarqawi to send him a donation.
He also outlines what al-Qa’eda’s larger plan is.
I was thinking about doing a detailed mark-up of the letter to point out just how bad things seem to be going for al-Qa’eda–as well as what we in America have to be on guard against–but I had a really LONG day yesterday and don’t have the energy to do a detailed piece of writing at the moment.
FORTUNATELY, JOHN HINDERAKER HAS ALREADY DONE A GOOD ANALYSIS.
YOU CAN ALSO READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER.
If this letter is real, then it just goes to show just how amateur these guys are.
It’s not that hard to encrypt a letter these days.
That letter actually seems like it could serve very well to demonstrate what the Biblical epistles are and what they are not. Reading it, I was reminded rather strongly of some of Paul’s letters. The point is that this letter could possibly be used to demonstrate that the intention of the epistles was to convey specific information relative to specific circumstances in specific places, and that they were not inteded to systematically define doctrine.
I send this link to my friend, who lives in Iraq (he is Iraqi, not American) to get his perspective. If he responds in time I’ll post his coments as well.
The substance of the letter seems so encouraging and affirming to the U.S. position on the war, that it did occur to me that it might be a hoax.
Genuine or not, doubtless some in Iraq will claim it is false.
Like when Bagdad Bob (the Iraqi Information Minister) kept insisting that U.S. troops were “nowhere NEAR Bagdad”.
“If this letter is real, then it just goes to show just how amateur these guys are.”
BillyHW, I take issue with your tone. Do you have ANY idea how much WORK it takes to be evil? You need a lair, a vehicle, a dastardly plan, reliable henchmen (don’t get me started on henchmen!), a scary name, a shadow organization to cover your evil organization, a diabolical laugh, a dumb trap for good guys to escape from while you go plant azaleas; the list of necessities is endless.
There was a time when al’Queda was the best there is at what it does and it seems with notoriety comes the types of pressures that are patently designed to bring the whole thing down. When was the last time an evil organization was able to grow to this scope?
Really, you should be fair. The Church has the benefit of Truth, Light, and Beauty Himself backing it. What do evil organizations have?
They ain’t got Smurf!