Wow, such a claim, huh?
Reading a claim like this makes me wonder, just what are we doing about Al Qaeda? I hear a lot of things (both good and bad) regarding the rebuilding of Iraq's government and the rising death tolls; but I don't hear as much about Al Qaeda or our plans for dealing with them.
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Al Qaeda Claims to Have 12,000 Fighters in Iraq
Friday , November 10, 2006
get_a(300,250,"frame1");CAIRO, Egypt — Al Qaeda in Iraq's purported leader vowed on Friday that his fighters would never rest until they have reached Jerusalem and destroy the White House.
In the audio tape made available on a militant web site, a man introduced as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir said Al Qaeda has 12,000 fighters at the ready in Iraq.
"We will not rest from our Jihad until we are under the olive trees of Rumieh and we have destroyed the dirty black house -- which is called the White House," al-Muhajir said.
The "olive trees of Rumieh" appeared to be a reference to the Mount of Olive in Jerusalem, or Christendom in general as a continuation of the Roman empire.
Also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, al-Muhajir became the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by the U.S. military in June.
Though the voice on the tape identified itself as al-masri, there were no means to independently verify this.
Describing George W. Bush as "the most stupid president" in U.S. history, the Al Qaeda leader reached out to the Muslim world and said his group was winning faster than expected in Iraq.
The U.S. president's policy had enabled the militant group to achieve their goal of fighting more Americans, said the Al Qaeda leader.
"We call the lame duck (Bush) not to hurry up in escaping the same way the defense minister did," he said, referring to the removal of Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary following the Democrats' victory in Midterm elections.
"They are getting ready to leave, because they are no longer capable of staying," the Al Qaeda leader said.
"Remain steadfast in the battlefield you coward," he called on the U.S president.
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So, are we safe? Do you feel safe? Every time I read something like this, I can't help but wonder just how long it will be before we see a repeat of the tragedy that was 9/11. I can't help but wonder if the government truly is doing every thing in its power to stop something like that from happening again...
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You know, sometimes I think these are released to the public just so Bush can go, "They're treatening us and they are calling us cowards for wanting to leave so badly...now let's send about 10,000 more troops in, give me a 2 billion dollar loan and we're staying for another ten years." It's stupid, I know but I can't help but think that if he wasn't trying to win Daddy's war, we would have had Osama, Hussein and this Abu character. I don't support this war by any means but I do support the men and women because someone needs to be safe. This war is OPK and sometimes I wish it wasn't because I'd love to see the Bush sisters in uniform, drunk off their asses sent into combat. Okay laughing. Done, anyway, I know we aren't safe, it's just a matter of time, being on the inside of this whole thing you understand that we're going into World War III.
Alexa
That is one of many "conspiracy theories" that I have heard, that these claims are exaggerated in an attempt to gain support for the war. I wish as much effort went into gaining support for our troops instead.
It's not an entirely invalid concern, to say the least.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/user/fanaile-drupal-org
I don't think we are safer and I certainly don't feel safer. Actually, I don't want to feel safer. I want to KNOW I am safer.
Our port security is crap, our border security is pathetic.... hell no we aren't safer. People just like to pretend we are because there hasn't been an attack here since 9/11. That doesn't mean a thing in the world to me. Prior to 9/11 there hadn't been an attack here in another several years. As 9/11 showed, that certainly didn't mean we were safe.
Unless we fix what is broken, there will be another attack. It's just a matter of when they get around to it... and that's the other scary part. Knowing it's going to happen and watching everyone in Washington bicker back and forth without facing up to the realization that as it (security, etc) stands now, it will happen again. And that pisses me off to no end.
"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us." -Marcel Proust