Al-Qaeda: Iraq a failure for US

2008-04-18 14:49

Cairo - Al-Qaeda's No. 2 man claimed in a new audiotape released on a militant website on Friday that five years of US occupation of Iraq brought only "failure and defeat", which the Bush administration will pass on as a "problem" to the next American president.

In the recording, Ayman al-Zawahri alleged that by acting on the advice of his top commanders in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and halting further US troop withdrawals from Iraq until after July, US President George W Bush was "covering up for the failure" of his Iraq policies.

The authenticity of the recording, posted on a website known for militant messages, could not be independently verified. It bore the logo of al-Qaeda's media wing and was the second recording in April by al-Zawahri, considered the terror network's chief strategist.

The first part of the recording, entitled, "Five years of the invasion of Iraq and decades of injustice by tyrants", deals with Iraq and calls for Muslim support of jihad, or holy war, and for backing al-Qaeda's affiliate there, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq.

Passing problem to next president

That part of the recording referred to Bush's statement that he would give Petraeus all the time needed to evaluate the security situation in Iraq after the current drawdown of US troops ends in July and reassess US troop strength.

That stance by the American president guarantees a heavy US military presence in Iraq for the rest of Bush's presidency as the war grinds through its sixth year. The current total of 160 000 troops is scheduled to shrink to about 140 000 by the end of July.

"Bush declared that he will grant Petraeus all the time he needs, a ridiculous show to cover up for the failure in Iraq and to allow Bush to evade the decision to withdraw the forces, which is an admission of the failure of the crusader invasion of Iraq, by passing the problem on to the next president," al-Zawahri said.

"The truth is that if Bush keeps all his forces in Iraq until doomsday and until they enter hell, they will only see crisis and defeat by the will of God," al-Zawahri said. "If the American forces leave, they will lose everything. And if they stay, they will bleed to death."

Liberating Jerusalem

Al-Zawahri also blasted Sunni fighters who switched sides and joined the American push to pacify Sunni areas of Iraq, the so-called "Awakening Councils", echoing similar comments posted earlier in April by al-Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq.

He also reiterated a recent statement allegedly by Osama bin Laden, that from Iraq the mujahideen will launch a fight to "liberate" Jerusalem.

"Iraq nowadays is the most important battlefield on which our mujahedeen are waging a war against the forces of the Zionist-Christian Crusade," al-Zawahri said. "Therefore, supporting the mujahideen in Iraq and especially the Islamic State of Iraq is a most important duty."

- AP