Full Version: Zarqawi Pledges Support to Bin Laden
From CNN:
The motivation and timing for this seems fuzzy, and I can't really find any wonks willing to speculate, so I figure that's a perfect time for AD to discuss it.
Questions for Debate:
1) As it specifically relates to the insurgency in Iraq, is this alliance significant? Why or why not?
2) Does this new request for alliance prove that Zarqawi was not associated/allied with Al Qaeda prior to the invasion of Iraq?
3) There is increasing evidence that Zarqawi is losing popularity in Iraq due to the civilian casualties he's inflicting. Does "re-branding" with Al Qaeda improve his status and his ability to continue the insurgency in Iraq?
QUOTE
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- A statement attributed to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's militant group declared allegiance to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on Sunday.
The statement, posted on Islamist Web sites, addressed bin Laden as "the sheik" and said al-Zarqawi's Unification and Jihad movement "badly needed" to join forces with al Qaeda.
"We will listen to your orders," it said. "If you ask us to join the war, we will do it and we will listen to your instructions. If you stop us from doing something, we will abide by your instructions."
The statement, posted on Islamist Web sites, addressed bin Laden as "the sheik" and said al-Zarqawi's Unification and Jihad movement "badly needed" to join forces with al Qaeda.
"We will listen to your orders," it said. "If you ask us to join the war, we will do it and we will listen to your instructions. If you stop us from doing something, we will abide by your instructions."
The motivation and timing for this seems fuzzy, and I can't really find any wonks willing to speculate, so I figure that's a perfect time for AD to discuss it.
Questions for Debate:
1) As it specifically relates to the insurgency in Iraq, is this alliance significant? Why or why not?
2) Does this new request for alliance prove that Zarqawi was not associated/allied with Al Qaeda prior to the invasion of Iraq?
3) There is increasing evidence that Zarqawi is losing popularity in Iraq due to the civilian casualties he's inflicting. Does "re-branding" with Al Qaeda improve his status and his ability to continue the insurgency in Iraq?
QUOTE
1) As it specifically relates to the insurgency in Iraq, is this alliance significant? Why or why not?
No, Zarqawi has always been linked to Al Qaeda. He was wounded by an American bomb in Afghanistan, and a letter sent by him and intended for Al Qaeda was intercepted last spring.
QUOTE
2) Does this new request for alliance prove that Zarqawi was not associated/allied with Al Qaeda prior to the invasion of Iraq?
They have always been associated. Zarqawi has a relationship with bin Laden and other Al Qaeda heavies dating back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Zarqawi was one the "Afghan-Arabs." Zarqawi is also known to have had a working relationship with Al Qaeda when he was running several terror camps in Afghanistan at the time of the US invasion. It was at this time that he was reportedly injured in an American airstrike, and fled to Iraq for medical treatment.
QUOTE
3) There is increasing evidence that Zarqawi is losing popularity in Iraq due to the civilian casualties he's inflicting. Does "re-branding" with Al Qaeda improve his status and his ability to continue the insurgency in Iraq?[/b]
I think the statement was aimed at non-Iraqi Arabs rather than Iraqis themselves. Non-Iraqi Arabs supply Zarqawi with the vast majority of his recruits. Osama bin Laden is a popular figure among fundamentalist Muslims in the Arab world, and Zarqawi is trying to tap into that popularity in order to lure more non-Iraqi Arabs into Iraq to join his cause.
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