http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/...don/index.html


Al Qaeda threatens more UK, U.S. attacks

(CNN) -- Osama bin Laden's No. 2 man in al Qaeda has threatened more destruction in London, saying that British Prime Minister Tony Blair would be to blame.

In a video broadcast Thursday on Arabic-language TV station Al Jazeera Ayman al-Zawahiri also issued a warning for the United States.

"Our message is clear -- what you saw in New York and Washington (in 2001) and what you are seeing in Afghanistan and Iraq, all these are nothing compared to what you will see next."

"To the British, I am telling you that Blair brought you destruction in the middle of London and more will come, God willing," he said.

He appeared to be referring to the two attacks on London's transit system on July 7 and July 21. The first bombings killed 52 commuters and the four bombers. No one was killed in the second attack, in which the bombs failed to detonate.

Al-Zawahiri, a 54-year-old Egyptian doctor, is bin Laden's closest adviser. After the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, the U.S. State Department offered a $25 million award for information leading to al-Zawahiri's apprehension.

He also warned the United States to "stop stealing our oil and wealth and stop supporting corrupt rulers."

"If you continue your politics against Muslims, you will see, God willing, such horror that you will forget the horrors of Vietnam."

Al-Zawahiri reminded the United States and its allies of the "hudna" (truce) that bin Laden offered last year in return for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Muslim lands.

"Didn't Osama bin Laden tell you that you would never dream of peace until we actually live it in Palestine and before all the infidel armies withdraw from the land of Mohammed?

"Instead (of accepting the truce), you spilled rivers of blood in our countries, and we exploded volcanoes of anger in your countries."

He told the American people that their leaders are lying to them about the Iraq war and called for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces.

"The truth that has been kept from you by (President) Bush, (Secretary of State Condoleezza) Rice and (Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld is that there is no way out of Iraq without immediate withdrawal, and any delay on this means only more dead, more losses.

"If you don't leave today, certainly you will leave tomorrow, and after tens of thousands of dead, and double that figure in disabled and wounded."

A U.S. intelligence official told CNN the video was being analyzed, but quickly pointed out that "there has never been a false tape" from al-Zawahiri.

Another U.S. official did not read much into the fact that al-Zawahiri and not bin Laden made the videotape. The official said there have been few videotapes of bin Laden since the September 11 attacks, and most of the time it has been hard to determine when the tapes were made because there is either no audio or the message did not contain any timely references.

Bush defiant
Bush was unswayed. "He's saying, you know, 'Leave,'" he told reporters at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he had just met Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

The U.S. president described the ideology of al-Zawahiri and his adherents as "dark, dim, backwards. They don't appreciate women. If you don't agree to their narrow view of a religion, you'll be whipped in the public square." (Full story)

Their goal, he said, is to spread their point of view throughout the world, starting in the "broader Middle East. And part of their goal is to drive us out of the broader Middle East."

But Bush said the United States would not bend to the threats of al Qaeda or of al-Zawahiri.

"They're terrorists, they're killers and they will kill innocent people trying to get us to withdraw from the world so they can impose their dark vision on the world. That's what they're trying to do, and the comments today by Mr. Zawahiri absolutely reinforce what I have just told you. We will stay the course; we will complete the job in Iraq."

Bush said U.S. troops would return only "when those Iraqis are prepared to fight. As Iraq stands up, our coalition will stand down."

He said Iraqis want to live in a free society. "Zawahiri doesn't want them to live in a free society, and that's the clash of ideologies: freedom versus tyranny. We've had these kinds of clashes before, and we have prevailed. We have prevailed because we're right, we have prevailed because we adhere to a hopeful philosophy and we have prevailed because we would not falter."

The last time bin Laden released a statement was in an audiotape late last December when he praised Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and designated him the al Qaeda leader in Iraq.

Al-Zawahiri made no mention of the July 23 bombings in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh that killed at least 83 people and injured more than 200 others, which could indicate the tape was made before that date.

What a load of crap and you know it hev.

You oppose the war, yeah we know that what else is new??? You oppose the Bush administration, yadda yadda yadda.

Remember this little piece of history, the Muslim faith has only dominated nation-states through conquest. bin Laden and all his cronies are no different, they fear the westernization of their countries. They wish to keep women in bondage and subservant to the men (hey where's the NOW), you complain so much about religion, yet they want their religion to rule the world.

They offered no real truce. Hell Saddam was never a religious fanatic, but rather a brutal tyrant. They wanted us out of Saudi Arabia, when the Kingdom invited us there to protect them from Iraq. I didn't see al-Queda in Serbia, when Muslims were being slaughtered, oh that's right, it was the US Military. I didn't see al-Queda in Moqadishu when warlords were starving Muslims, once again the US military.

But the one thing he said is true, we will never have peace until we wipe out terrorism. Its time to take the gloves off and begin a systematic mission of bombing the terrorist camps and hideouts reverting them back to the 4th century that they admire so damn much.

dmk

We have no right being over there and you know it. Our actions in the middle east have only made us less safe and more prone to attack. And it is all because of the dumbass administration you blindly defend.

Sounds like this article has made ol' sgtdmski nervous.

Remember the tape of Osama Bin Laden right before election day??Remember he said their will be bloodshed if we don't leave Iraq??

Has this happened...nope.

I bet it's common for an editor of CNN to preach everything that comes from Al Qaeda.

who is supposed to intervene when a dictator is abused his power (thats kind of an oxymoron but watever). the UN peacekeepers?? they didnt get anything solved remember hans blix. someone has to intervene, who else better than the most powerful country in the world?? who should have intervened in somalia?? wat do u think bush went in there for other than oil?? regardless of all that hasnt he helped alot of people?? if he hasnt helped alot of people then why are the iraqi police and soldiers signing up so quickly??

It's coming. Bush has sealed our fate.

lol, i think zawahiri has gotten to YOU not sgtdmski. oh and sgt wats up with the DMK at the end of everyone of ur posts?? my cousins thinks those r ur initials

All I can say is if I was someone living in the middle east I would be pissed as hell too. It is called empathy.

Ur cousin is right, those are my initials.

I am not nervous about a thing. I have been witness to history throughout my life. The rise from the ashes of Conservatism, the end of American malaise, the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin wall, and democracy in the Middle East. The domino theory at work. Of all the things I know and believe, I know that freedom has cost. But with freedom comes life, true life, not the day to day existence of getting by and not dying.

Many have talked about changing the world, but President Bush has started the change, much like President Reagan did with the Soviet Union. We are fighting against "insurgents" who wish to impose their views on the world. Including their religious beliefs and 4th century dogma, but then to someone who actually believes that socialism is a better form of government, that may not be such bad thing for you. I guess that is why you empathize so much.

dmk