al-Qaeda's Next Jihad
By GordonTaylor Posted in User Blogs — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi seems to have vanished, at least from the news and public view. Once called the Emir of al-Qaeda in Iraq by Osama Bin-Laden, the Jordanian born high school drop out seems to have dropped out of existence. This in itself is troubling, because he has been a high profile figure, leading the insurgency in Iraq to oust the Americans.
al-Qaeda's goal in Iraq, as outlined by in a letter by Ayman al-Zawahri is broken down into three stages:
- Expel the Americans from Iraq.
- Establish an Islamic authority.
- Extend the jihad.
In an Internet message posted Jan. 15, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, Zarqawi' s spokesmen, announced the establishment of the Mujahideen Shura Council in Iraq, an alliance of six Salafi jihadi groups created to lead the ''fight to face the infidels and their followers of the converters," unify the Mujahideen as per Sharia [Islamic law], and ''clear the mist off people's eyes."
More below...Within days, al-Qaeda in Iraq ceased posting messages on the Internet. It was thought that Zarqawi would head the new council however, the local jihadi became confused, when on Jan. 20, the council named its new leader, Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi.
With the stage one seemingly under way, the expulsion of the United States from Iraq, and stage two also being put into place, that being establishing Iraqis in the government, including al-Baghdadi, it was time to initiate stage three.
Ayman al-Zawahri is using al-Zarqawi to implement stage three; by extending his [Zarqawi's] group beyond Iraq. al-Zarqawi started his group in Iraq and that is where he came to fame and favor with Osama Bin-Laden. His tactics have worked so well, other jihadi groups around the world are now adopting them. Zarqawi's group is responsible for the rocket attack on US Navy Ships on August 19, 2005.
In addition, Zarqawi's group is responsible for the rocket attack on Israel, the now infamous bombing 3 western hotels in Amman Jordan and the Saudi oil terminal at Abqaiq.
Where is the new extended Jihad heading? It seems that the pattern emerging from the intelligence community points to Israel.
However, if one is to draw this conclusion, one must factor Iran into the equation. al-Qaeda alone could not effectively invade Israel by itself, so it seems there is a missing piece of the puzzle. On January 19, 2006 during a visit to Damascus, Iranian President Ahmadinejad disappeared from public view for 10 days.
During this disappearance, he met with al-Zawahri, al-Zarqawi and a host of other terrorists, including Imad Fayez Mugniyah, the international operations leader of Hezbollah, who had not been seen for years. He was the number one target for counter-terrorism before 9/11.
In addition, reports indicate that he met with at least 10 other terror factions, including Islamic Jihad. "This new apparent `Coalition of the Willing' is troubling news and a gathering storm for Israel."
but how about he's dead? Even a cat has only 9 lives and we know for a fact he's already used a few of them, both in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mujahideen Shura Council in Iraq, an alliance of six Salafi jihadi groups
When they are all together, this seems like the perfect place to accidentally
discharge a tactical nuke.
(:>|)
.
It seems clear that Israel is the next target of the new and expanded Jihad, especially with Hamas now clearly in control of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Hezbollah is entrenching itself even deeper in the West Bank and Iran is giving aid in every form to both parties.
Add al-Qaeda to the mix, as they are present in Gaza, and in sufficient number to help Hamas maintain control of its position, and you have found that missing puzzle piece.
Iran has been harboring as many as 400 al-Qaeda members chased from Afghanistan and Iraq, some living in apparent luxury at seaside resorts. It should be abundantly clear to anyone that Iran is helping al-Qaeda in its new Jihad and most probably to create a diversion from its own nuclear ambitions.
This intelligence comes from highly classified U.S., European and Arab sources and has officials believing that Iran is hosting much of Al Qaeda's remaining leadership and helping them by allowing them the freedom to communicate and help plan the terrorist network's operations.
"Iran is becoming more and more radicalized and more willing to turn a blind eye to the Al Qaeda presence there," a U.S. counter-terrorism official said.