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September 28, 2006

Iraq Al-Qaeda Leader Recruiting Scientists For Unconventional Weapons, 'Whether Biological Or Dirty'

Topics: Iraq

In what amounts to sobering reenforcement of Fouad Ajami's comments in his Opinion Journal piece today, in which he said that should "we pull up stakes from Baghdad - a terrible price would be paid for a hasty and unseemly withdrawal," we need only look to excerpts of comments by Abu Ayyub al-Masri - the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, on an al-Qaeda website today:

[...] In a new audio message Thursday, the leader of al-Qaida in
Iraq called for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war against the West.

The speaker said "the field of jihad" could provide scientists with an avenue for experimentation.

"We are in dire need of you," he said. "The field of jihad (holy war) can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them."

He also issued an amnesty to Iraqis who cooperated with their country's "occupiers," calling on them to "return to your religion and nation" during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which Sunnis began observing in Iraq on Saturday and Shiites on Monday.

"We will not attack you as long as you declare your true repentance in front of your tribe and relatives," he said. "The amnesty ends by the end of this holy month."

Al-Masri called on insurgents in Iraq to capture Westerners so they could be traded for the imprisoned Egyptian sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks.

"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark prison," the voice on the tape said.

As Ajami points out in his piece, "leaving Baghdad would result in the jihadists turning up in our cities," and surely, they wouldn't hesitate to use the most deadly of weapons at their disposal, as we are hearing directly from the mouth of the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq. The perceived weakness of America's will and strength would result in America "paying a terrible price" for its passivism. "As debated as the war is now, the heated debate about the origins of our drive into Iraq would surely pale by comparison to the debate that would erupt - here and elsewhere," should we abandon Iraq to the likes of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, which would clearly be seen by Islamists everywhere - as an open invitation to attack with reckless abandon, the home of the paper tiger that ran out of Iraq.

Posted by Richard at September 28, 2006 12:45 PM

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