My arrogant opinions about politics, culture, science fiction, and whatever else I feel like talking about.

Are We Winning in Iraq?

        An expert has weighed in: Osama bin Ladin.  Tigerhawk notes (hat tip: Glenn) what Osama doesn't say in his latest tape:

        Less than 2 1/2 years ago, al Qaeda broke the news to the Taliban that it was diverting resources to Iraq so as to humiliate the American "Crusaders."

        All this was on the orders of bin Laden himself, the sources said.  Why?  Because the terror chieftain and his top lieutenants see a great opportunity for killing Americans and their allies in Iraq and neighboring countries such as Turkey, according to Taliban sources who complain that their own movement will suffer... Bin Laden believes that Iraq is becoming the perfect battlefield to fight the “American crusaders” and that the Iraqi insurgency has been “100 percent successful so far,” according to a Taliban participant at the mid-November meeting who goes by the nom de guerre Sharafullah.

        Al Qaeda drew a line in the sands of the Sunni Triangle, and the United States Army and Marines walked right across it.  First, al Qaeda tried to kill Americans, per bin Laden's orders.  It largely failed.  Then al Qaeda went after America's allies, and succeeded only in turning public opinion against itself in every Muslim country it attacked.  After thirty months of battlefield defeats and political embarrassments, bin Laden won't even mention Iraq in one of his rare public utterances, and he rallies his troops to fight a war where American soldiers aren't.  How humiliating. How delightful.

         Al Qaeda has lost in Iraq, and bin Laden is desperate to change the subject.  He and his organization are at grave risk of being discredited, and when that happens it will be much harder for al Qaeda to attract recruits, raise money, or deal with governments.

        Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.  Meanwhile, as Tigerhawk alluded to and Austin Bay notes explicitely, what Osama did say was that jihadis should rally to Sudan, to defend against the coming latest 'Crusader invasion of Islam,' that is, the European Union's proposed peacekeeping mission to stop the genocide in Darfur.  As Bay notes, this is not a very bright move, as it means al-Qaida will once again be engaged in killing Muslims in the name of jihadism and wahhabism.

        What I find really interesting is the question: what will the European Union do?  If they carry out the "peace keeping" mission (and gee, but that's a stupid euphemism, isn't it?), they'll see their own troops dying at the hands of jihadis.  What will they do then?  But if they flinch, it will really encourage Islamofascist activity against them.

        The Axis of Weasels is going to have to make some tough choices.

        Technorati tags: Darfur, Europe, Iraq Campaign, Osama bin Laden, Sudan, United States, War with jihadism.

Posted by: saintonge at 01:22 | link | comments
iraq, europe, islam, terrorism, blowhards, al-qaida, war with jihadism