November 20, 2008
AL-QA'IDA'S first message to Barack Obama two weeks after his election to the US presidency shows a panicked response to his popularity, counter-terrorism experts said today.
Al-Qa'ida's second in command Ayman Zawahiri lashed out against Obama in an internet message last night for being “the enemy of Islam and Muslims” and a “house negro” - meaning a black underling who willingly does the bidding of his white taskmasters.
Zawahiri, second only to Osama bin Laden in al-Qa'ida, also warned Obama that the US could face the same failures as the Soviet Union in Afghanistan if he followed through on a pledge to deploy more troops there.
Despite the fierce words, experts say Zawahiri's statement reflects his group's anxiety over a leader who could restore the US’s reputation abroad and hamper al-Qa’ida's ability to attract money and recruits for its extremist agenda.
“This most recent message from Ayman Zawahri is further evidence that al-Qa’ida fears the restoration of America's international prestige,” says R.P. Eddy, former director of counter-terrorism at the National Security Council.
“The overwhelming international admiration towards America, seen in the global headlines on November 5, demonstrates a new reality that has sent shockwaves through the terrorist network,” Mr Eddy said.
Mr Obama has said that Afghanistan and Pakistan, and not Iraq, are the central front in the US-led “war on terror”.
He has also vowed to send more troops to Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban insurgency, and said he would not shrink from authorising strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions along its border with Afghanistan, where US intelligence services say bin Laden and his deputies are hiding.
Mr Obama “is much more considerate and engaging globally than Bush. This takes away the 'bete noire' that the United States represented for al-Qa’ida,” counter-terrorism expert Thomas Sanderson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.
“On one side, it makes America look better, and on the other side it makes al-Qa’ida look a little less relevant,” he said. “They would have been happier having someone closer to president Bush's policies.”
Mr Obama's opposition to the Iraq war, and his vow to withdraw US troops in 16 months once he takes office, propelled him to the national stage early in the electoral process.
Al-Qa’ida's leaders “probably don't know quite what to think right now, because on the one hand, they almost certainly believe that an American president is just going to do what Americans do, in their view, which is rampage and humiliate Muslims,” says Steven Simon of the Council on Foreign Relations.
“They are looking in this case at a president who has a lot of popular appeal overseas, who has Arabic names - Barack and Hussein.”
An English transcript of the speech, which a man believed to be Zawahiri delivered in Arabic, was provided by al-Qa’ida's media arm As-Sahab. Much of the video of the speech juxtaposes a photo of 1960s Muslim black militant leader Malcolm X with Mr Obama wearing a yarmulke when visiting the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
Mr Eddy described the video as “a panicked response to the future”.
“Many have speculated that the new administration will face a major challenge early on, and that well may be. But the latest message from al-Qa’ida is not it,” he says.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US counter-terrorism official had an ominous warning: “Make no mistake: this is still a group that can do serious damage.”
At least six militants were killed in a suspected US missile strike in northwest Pakistan yesterday, the day Zawahiri's message was broadcast, according to Pakistani officials, including Abdullah Azam al-Saudi, a man described as a senior al-Qa’ida member from Saudi Arabia.
AL-QA'IDA'S first message to Barack Obama two weeks after his election to the US presidency shows a panicked response to his popularity, counter-terrorism experts said today.
Al-Qa'ida's second in command Ayman Zawahiri lashed out against Obama in an internet message last night for being “the enemy of Islam and Muslims” and a “house negro” - meaning a black underling who willingly does the bidding of his white taskmasters.
Zawahiri, second only to Osama bin Laden in al-Qa'ida, also warned Obama that the US could face the same failures as the Soviet Union in Afghanistan if he followed through on a pledge to deploy more troops there.
Despite the fierce words, experts say Zawahiri's statement reflects his group's anxiety over a leader who could restore the US’s reputation abroad and hamper al-Qa’ida's ability to attract money and recruits for its extremist agenda.
“This most recent message from Ayman Zawahri is further evidence that al-Qa’ida fears the restoration of America's international prestige,” says R.P. Eddy, former director of counter-terrorism at the National Security Council.
“The overwhelming international admiration towards America, seen in the global headlines on November 5, demonstrates a new reality that has sent shockwaves through the terrorist network,” Mr Eddy said.
Mr Obama has said that Afghanistan and Pakistan, and not Iraq, are the central front in the US-led “war on terror”.
He has also vowed to send more troops to Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban insurgency, and said he would not shrink from authorising strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions along its border with Afghanistan, where US intelligence services say bin Laden and his deputies are hiding.
Mr Obama “is much more considerate and engaging globally than Bush. This takes away the 'bete noire' that the United States represented for al-Qa’ida,” counter-terrorism expert Thomas Sanderson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.
“On one side, it makes America look better, and on the other side it makes al-Qa’ida look a little less relevant,” he said. “They would have been happier having someone closer to president Bush's policies.”
Mr Obama's opposition to the Iraq war, and his vow to withdraw US troops in 16 months once he takes office, propelled him to the national stage early in the electoral process.
Al-Qa’ida's leaders “probably don't know quite what to think right now, because on the one hand, they almost certainly believe that an American president is just going to do what Americans do, in their view, which is rampage and humiliate Muslims,” says Steven Simon of the Council on Foreign Relations.
“They are looking in this case at a president who has a lot of popular appeal overseas, who has Arabic names - Barack and Hussein.”
An English transcript of the speech, which a man believed to be Zawahiri delivered in Arabic, was provided by al-Qa’ida's media arm As-Sahab. Much of the video of the speech juxtaposes a photo of 1960s Muslim black militant leader Malcolm X with Mr Obama wearing a yarmulke when visiting the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
Mr Eddy described the video as “a panicked response to the future”.
“Many have speculated that the new administration will face a major challenge early on, and that well may be. But the latest message from al-Qa’ida is not it,” he says.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US counter-terrorism official had an ominous warning: “Make no mistake: this is still a group that can do serious damage.”
At least six militants were killed in a suspected US missile strike in northwest Pakistan yesterday, the day Zawahiri's message was broadcast, according to Pakistani officials, including Abdullah Azam al-Saudi, a man described as a senior al-Qa’ida member from Saudi Arabia.
Source: The Australian
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