A new audio tape purportedly made by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been released today and is addressed directly to Osama Bin Laden.

“I am sure you have heard through the media that I was wounded and treated in a Ramadi hospital. I would like to assure you and the Muslim nation that these were pure allegations. It was a light wound, thank God. We are back fighting them in the land of the two rivers.”

The speaker addressed the message as “a letter from a soldier on the firing line to his commander.”

The speaker purporting to be al-Zarqawi addressed bin Laden as his “emir,” or commander, asked bin Laden for guidance on conducting the insurgency. He said he sent bin Laden a war plan and asked for comments or approval.

In my opinion this entire audio tape is pure rubbish. If Zarqawi did in fact record the tape, it is only a source of disinformation rather than actual details. This would be only the second audio tape recorded by Zarqawi if in fact this one was done by the Al Qaida in Iraq leader.

We know Zarqawi was not shot, though several press outlets still say he was shot in a battle with United States soldiers, and we know he suffered from a punctured lung. A punctured lung is not an injury which the afflicted person is running around without problems the next day. It’s quite serious and there is a recovery time. Zarqawi’s denial of how serious his injury is purely designed to increase morale among Al Qaida in Iraq terrorists as well as continue to assault what his group repeatedly calls “Western misinformation.”

Furthermore, I’m quite skeptical of this message in that he asks Bin Laden for guidance on military matters. Where this is strange dates back to Bin Laden’s role in the mujihadeen fighting in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. Bin Laden did not direct military actions and only held a radio to relay information between squads. He was a financier and facilitator of mujihadeen to Afghanistan through Pakistan and nothing more. It is all but inconceivable he has somehow gained military leadership while suggesting how static targets can be attacked. This is not what is being done in Iraq as Al Qaida in Iraq are attacking people rather than buildings.

If this audio tape was made by Zarqawi, this key statement to Bin Laden is done for two main reasons. First, Zarqawi seeks to further align himself with Bin Laden in the hopes of winning the hearts and minds of Muslims who see Bin Laden as a hero. Second, Zarqawi wants to attain further Al Qaida help in Iraq, which is a great sign for the Coalition and for Iraq because it demonstrates his organization is in need of outside assisstance.

Update:
According to Fox News, the CIA has authenticated the voice in this audio tape as that of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

So much to cover and so little time. The French have rejected the EU constitution against the pleas from France President Jaques Chirac. What does this mean for the future of the EU? It could mean the end, but most likely it will mean renegotiation. It is believed the French rejected the measure because of concessions made to England therefore a new constitution might leave concessions to the Brits out.

A double suicide bombing in al-Hilla was carried out at a police recruiting center, also the scene of a demonstration by Iraqi special forces demanding higher pay. Al Qaida in Iraq was quick to claim responsibility for the attack which killed 27 and wounded dozens more.

Al Qaida in Iraq has sought to clarify Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s previous audio tape message regarding killing of fellow Muslims is justified in jihad.

“Accordingly, the American Muslim that believes with what Islam had came up with and blasphemes the false God is my brother that we are required to love him and it is a commitment upon us to support him. The blasphemous Arab is our enemy even if he were Iraqi, since the identity that unites the nation is the Islam and only the Islam.”

Are all of the children which are caught up in the attacks blasphemous? According to Al Qaida in Iraq, they must be.

Saad Hariri has reportedly swept Lebanese elections from yesterday’s election. He is of course the son of assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri is anti-Syria therefore the results of the election bodes well for Lebanon staying a sovereign state and the future of Hezbollah within the country is growing darker.

Iran has lashed out concerning Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s comments that Iran was determined to build a nulcear bomb reported here Saturday. No word yet from Musharraf if he was misquoted.

Operation Lightning continues as Iraqi forces have taken the lead to sweep through Baghdad in search for terrorists responsible for the mass killings of Iraqis. One arrest thus far is quite notable. A former general in the Iraqi intelligence service and a former member of Saddam Hussein’s Fedayeen secret police was detained in western Baghdad, reportedly the area of Baghdad Iraqi forces faced the most resistence, was arrested. If the sweep is orchestrated efficiently, expect more arrests comparable to this one.

The Jawa Report posts on an American citizen being wanted in Romania for helping terrorists kidnap three Romanian journalists who were later released. Muhammed Monaf, the journalists’ interpreter, was also taken hostage and later released.

Terrorists who are holding Italian CARE International worker Clementina Cantoni hostage released a second video tape. Thus far I’ve yet to hear the group’s demands therefore it could be just another ransom plea. This would explain why two video tapes have been made without making a demand out in the open. It’s a proof of life type scenario.

The Telegraph has an interesting article concerning Western infiltration into jihadists’ message boards. The site they feature is SITE which is an excellent source of information. The article is a good read.

Two American citizens have been arrested for conspiring aid terrorists after an FBI sting netted Rafiq Abdus Sabir, 50, a Boca Raton physician, and Tarik Shah, 42, a self-described martial arts expert in New York.

The one-count complaint claims the men allegedly took an oath pledging their allegiance to al-Qaida. The government said the men engaged in multiple recorded conversations with a confidential source and an FBI agent posing as an al-Qaida operative.

During the conversations, Shah also described how he and Sabir in 1998 tried to get to training camps in Afghanistan and said they were a “package” deal, Kelley said in the release.

[snip]

As recently as May 20, during a meeting at a New York City apartment, Sabir indicated he would travel shortly to Saudi Arabia to treat the wounds of jihadists at a Saudi military base, prosecutors said. Travel records showed he was scheduled to leave Thursday.

During recorded conversations, Shah also repeatedly indicated his desire to train Muslim “brothers” in the martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, the release said.

Apparently Shah has not paid much attention to the tactics of Al Qaida as the group does not engage in much hand to hand combat. What I find most interesting regarding this story is that the two had tried to join Al Qaida back in 1998 while the group was stationed in Afghanistan but were unable to. They kept their desire to join the terror group for seven years until an FBI informant recorded a pledge to Al Qaida and Osama Bin Laden.

Maybe it’s just me, but if I wanted to join the group, I’d go to the source and not live in a country accross the globe. Sure, there are Al Qaida recruiters in the United States, or were at some time, but there are many more actually in the Middle East. For these two men, desire and dedication were not on the same levels.

I had a long day today, but it was fun. Sorry for the lack of posting, but I’ll resume tomorrow.

On Memorial Day, remember it was the soldier who gave Americans the right to celebrate. It was the soldier who gave us the ability to cookout with our families. Again, I urge my readers to write a letter to a U.S. Soldier. All details here.

Where is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi? Unfortunately no one really knows other than the terror chief himself and the few aides surrounding him. According to the latest information, Zarqawi is well enough to move around and might have taken aide outside of Iraq.

KUNA reports according to their sources Zarqawi is hiding out in Abu Shallal Village which is north of Baghdad. U.S. and Iraqi forces have surrounded the village and preparing an assault to locate Zarqawi or see if there was any truth to a tip recieved.

A force of Iraqi commandoes, supported by US forces, have sourrounded the village of Abu Shallal, north of here, after reports indicated that Abu Musab Zarqawi might have taken refuge there, Interior ministry sources told KUNA on Friday. — The sources have indicated that Zarqawi has been spotted by eyewitnesses driven in a red Opel in the village of Abu Shallal, near an area called al-Tarmia. He was said to have taken refuge in the home of an individual named Sheikh Hatem al-Amir.

If this information is accurate, it is quite stunning Zarqawi was driving around in a red Opel. A red car sticks out on a heavily traveled highway during rush hour much less in Iraq where the car of choice seems to be small trucks or four-door sedans that are 1990s to 1980s condition and usually white, grey or a varient thereof. Zarqawi, who is known around Iraq as the master of disguise and escape, should simply have known better than to ride in a car that sticks out like a sore thumb. This is why I’m a bit hesitant that this information is accurate. Who know though and we shall see. Let’s hope for the best.

If Zarqawi is not in Abu Shallal Village, according to Reuters he might be in Iran.

Al-Zarqawi has shrapnel lodged in his chest and may have been moved to Iran, The Sunday Times newspaper reported, adding his supporters may try to move him on to another country for an operation.

The paper quoted an unnamed insurgency commander as saying the Jordanian-born militant was wounded three weeks ago when a U.S. missile hit his convoy near the northwestern Iraqi city of al Qaim.

“Shrapnel went in between the right shoulder and his chest, ripped it open and is still stuck there,” the commander said, adding a second piece of shrapnel penetrated Zarqawi’s chest but exited from his back.

If Zarqawi fled to Iran, he wouldn’t be the only Al Qaida member seeking refuge in the country. Both stories, while different in terms of where Zarqawi is, both point to good news for the Coalition and the Iraqi people. They both give further evidence to the fact Zarqawi is injured and both might have the same bit of credibility in that Zarqawi might be on his way to Iraq and stopped in Abu Shallal Village.

Since Zarqawi was injured in Western Iraq near Qaim, it would be a reasonable assumption he was initially treated as close to the scene as possible as the injuries are serious. It’s quite a trek from Western Iraq to Iran when you’re injured, much less if you are the most wanted man in Iraq.

The Jawa Report linked with Religion of Peace Update: Remember the Alamo Edition
Speed of Thought linked with Zarqawi (apparently alive) is surrounded?

Moscow city authorities are planning on suing the power company for the power outage this past week. This is the same power outage which Chechen terrorist leader Ishmail Basayev took credit for causing. Either Basayev is trying to take credit for things he had no part in, which would not come as a complete shock, or the power company has terrorism insurance.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says an attack on Iran would spark a rebellion in the Muslim world, but not a rebellion towards Democracy. Agreed, but what Musharraf said concerning Iran’s nuclear ambitions should be highlighted.

Asked by the weekly how to prevent Iran from developing a military nuclear program, Musharraf said: “I do not know. They are very anxious to have the bomb.”

As the Europe Three continue to want to have their talks with the goal of Iran enriching uranium for energy at the most, Iran has repeatedly said they will disregard talks and continue to enrich unranium. There is simply not a peaceful solution to whether or not Iran has a nuclear weapon of some sort short of a massive uprising of Iranians. Don’t count on it anytime soon.

Two bombs went off in a busy market in a predominantly Christian neighborhood of Indonesia. Thus far no group has claimed responsibility, though history has told us to not look much further than Jeemah Islamiya.

A research group affiliated with Harvard University has filed a report indicating terrorists are trying to get their hands on nuclear material from Russian storage facilities and nuclear reactors. Furthermore the report indicates such facilities are not secure enough to withstand a direct assault by terrorists thus the material is able to be taken from the facilities.

Operation New Market continues with an estimated 14 terrorists killed and another 30 captured. Almost on cue Al Qaida in Iraq applauds the efforts of jihadists in Haditha for “fighting the battles of honor and victory with the converters and their masters, the crusaders.”

The parents of a 15 year-old boy who was sent by Palestinian terrorists to attack an IDF checkpoint have called those who sent their son criminals.

The IDF and the family have accused Fatah’s armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, of dispatching the boy on a suicide mission. However, Mohammed Subuh, a senior official with the Palestinian Authority’s Information Minister, claimed that Israel was behind the incident, staging the near-attack in attempt to undermine PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s talks with US President George W. Bush.

No big shock there for a Palestinian administration official to try to skirt the blame to Israel. That just about sums up the entire mindset in the Middle East.

The bodies of ten Shiites have been found near the Iraqi town of Al Qaim and appear to have been blindfolded, tortured and executed by gun shots to their heads. It is believed these Shiites were on their way back from visiting a religious shrine in Syria. Zarqawi calls Shiites Infidels and “tools of the crusaders,” therefore it’s likely Al Qaida in Iraq had a hand in this attrocity.

Update 08/01:
King Fahd has died. This time it is real.

Is Saudi Arabia King Faud [sic] dead? Chris has the news.

Update 5/28:
He’s not dead yet according to the Associated Press. He’s very much alive and going through tests.

Jeff Quinton - Backcountry Conservative linked with Saudi Arabian King Fahd Dead
Conservative Thinking linked with Saudi Arabian King Fahd Dead
Diggers Realm linked with Saudi Arabian King Fahd Dead

Ansar al-Sunnah claims Akihiko Saito died from wounds suffered in the ambush the terror group set up for contractors in Iraq (video of the attack here).

The group has posted on its website an image of a man on his back covered in blood, whom it claims is Saito, along with an image of his passport.

The image was contained in a four-minute video message on the website. The message said Saito died from injuries after being shot many times, and a subtitle warned people against working with U.S. troops.

A Japanese government source who saw the image said he could not tell whether it belongs to Saito. “The Foreign Ministry will collect information,” the source said.

I am sad to hear the loss of Saito, however I do believe it was better he died from wounds suffered in the attack than at the hands of Ansar al-Sunnah’s own Islamic trials. Surely the brutal torture Saito went through while in Ansar al-Sunnah’s custody could not have helped out matters.

Update:
Infovlad has the video however the video only shows passports which we’ve already seen and then the body of Saito laying on the ground bloodied. I do not believe it’s worth seeing, however if you must, head on over to Infovlad to check it out.

Screen captures (thanks to Diggers Realm) from the video are below, but they are graphic so beware.

(more…)

infovlad.net linked with Ansar al-Sunnah Says It Killed Akihiko Saito
The Jawa Report linked with Army of Ansar al-Sunnah Website: Japanese Hostage Akihiko Saito
Diggers Realm linked with Army of Ansar al-Sunnah Claims Japanese Hostage Akihiko Saito Is Dead [ Update , Video ]

Two bombers who are responsible for killing 8 innocent Iraqis say they were decieved.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Wisam Younis’ sole ambition in life, he said Friday, is to kill Americans [ed. way to set lofty goals for yourself]. So he claimed surprise when he discovered his car bomb had killed eight Iraqis and wounded more than 80 outside a Baghdad restaurant.

Younis and brothers Badr and Yassin Shakir are charged with murder and face the death penalty in the May 23 attack.

“We did not know that the attack would target innocent people and we were deceived,” said Younis, barefooted and with bruised and swollen hands. He said they were taken in by enthusiastic ideas and money, adding that an insurgent leader promised $1,500 for the bombing.

“Our doctrine is to wage jihad against the Americans,” Younis, wearing a stained beige traditional robe, told an Associated Press reporter as police stood over him. “Driving out the occupiers is the demand of all Iraqis… I wish to die in the battlefield instead of prison.”

These are two complete morons and there are many more where they came from unfortunately. Do they not ever watch the news? Do they never hear of how many innocent men, women and children are killed on a daily basis through bombs? Those are not United States bombs which kill these people; it’s bombs which are made by people like Younis and detonated by groups such as Al Qaida in Iraq. It is not as if Abu Musab al-Zarqawi cares though becuase killing Muslims is fine with him. They’re just collatoral damage.

Now the million dollar question. If a jihadist dies in jail after taking part of a bombing which killed fellow Muslims, what do his virgins look like that Allah grants him? Richard Simmons or Rosie O’Donnel?

Numerous reports indicating whether or not Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has died or living continue to come out. While one report indicates Zarqawi has died, another report indicates he is living and in complete command of Al Qaida in Iraq. It’s confusing to everyone including those who follow the jihadist message boards and communiques released by Al Qaida in Iraq.

The latest, and perhaps most credible, source to be released is that Zarqawi “in good health and runs the jihad operation himself.” This is the most credible source because this was in a statement released by the group and not through unknown posters at a jihadist message board.

Once again, al-Qaeda in Iraq dismisses media reports that Zarqawi named a substitute, stating: “the enemies of Allah broadcast through their mass media is only for the slipping in of malicious schemes.” In order to prevent the confusion, the communiqué calls upon the “mass media” to read all of the group’s communiqués and “listen to the audio messages of the Sheikh’s deputy (Abu Abdul Rahman al-Iraqi), and be aware that our jihad will go on until the word of Allah is the highest ….”

As translated by the SITE Institiute, an 18:43 audio message from Abu Abdul Rahman al-Iraqi released to the Internet May 2, 2005, pledges continued fealty to Zarqawi and states the willingness of the insurgency group to enter wherever their leader may lead, “to the White House and the fortress of the Vatican.”

Also, the communiqué indicates that Zarqawi is in good health and continuously “follows the details of the work until the time when this statement is prepared.”

It may be time to put all the rumors to rest concerning the fate of Zarqawi. As critical as the wounds to Zarqawi were though, it’s all but inconcievable he is walking around and continuing the jihad without help. Thus it is my opinion Zarqawi is recovering, but still quite immobile therefore making now the opportune time to find and capture the terror chief. Then again, it would not be unlike Al Qaida in Iraq to continue to mislead the world as they do on a daily basis in their communiques.