Region | Iraq
Al Qaida: It's death for US whether it stays or leaves
Al Qaida's number two said in an audiotape released on Friday that the United States will lose whether it stays in Iraq or withdraws, and he sneered that US President George W. Bush just wants to pass the problem on to his successor.
- AP
- Published: 10:31 April 18, 2008
Cairo: Al Qaida's number two said in an audiotape released on Friday that the United States will lose whether it stays in Iraq or withdraws, and he sneered that US President George W. Bush just wants to pass the problem on to his successor.
The message from Ayman Al Zawahiri released early yesterday on a militant website appeared to be one of the most quickly prepared tapes produced by Al Qaida - referring to Congressional testimony only last week by the top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, in which he recommended a halt to further US troop withdrawals until after July.
Bush said last week he would give Petraeus all the time needed to reassess US troop strength in Iraq after the current drawdown of US troops ends in July.
"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," said Al Zawahiri, deputy of Al Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden.
"If the American forces leave, they will lose everything. And if they stay, they will bleed to death," he said.
"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 Zawahiri said.
The authenticity of the 16-minute recording, entitled 'Five Years of the Invasion of Iraq and Decades of Injustice by Tyrants', could not be independently verified. But it carried the logo of Al Qaida's media wing.
He taunted the so-called Awakening Councils in Iraq - Sunni fighters who switched sides and joined the Americans in fighting predominantly Sunni Al Qaida militants.
Al Zawahiri criticised anti-US cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, who has ordered his militia in Iraq to halt attacks on American and Iraqi forces. He "has become the laughing stock of the world" and is a "toy" in Iran's hands, he said.
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