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Al-Qaeda Vows Global Jihad for Israeli Attacks

James Joyner
20

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Osama bin Laden’s deputy released a video vowing to turn the battles in Lebanon and Gaza into a global jihad.

Al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader warned in a new videotape released Thursday that the terrorist group would not stand idly by while Israeli bombardments “burn our brothers” in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. In the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahri, second in command to Osama bin Laden, said that al-Qaida now saw “all the world as a battlefield open in front of us.”

The Egyptian-born physician said the Hezbollah and Palestinian battles against Israel would not be ended with “cease-fires or agreements.” The fighting began last month following a Palestinian cross-border raid in which an Israeli soldier was captured, then expanded to Lebanon after Hezbollah militants captured two other soldiers in a raid earlier this month. “The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires. … It is a Jihad for God’s sake and will last until (our) religion prevails,” al-Zawahri said. “We will attack everywhere.”

So much for the idea that al Qaeda will refuse to work with Hezbollah because they are hated Shiites. It’s also rather redundant: Al-Qaeda declared global jihad in 1996 and again in 1998.

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20 responses to “Al-Qaeda Vows Global Jihad for Israeli Attacks”

  1. Rodney Dill Avatar
    Rodney Dill

    This is a little unclear, is that a Jihad on top of other Jihad’s or does the Global Jihad replace other Jihads.

    Sounds a little like declaring “Double Secret Probation”

  2. LJD Avatar
    LJD

    all the world as a battlefield open in front of us.

    Uh yeah, because you were holding back before.

    battles against Israel would not be ended with cease-fires or agreements.

    Maybe he should have a chat with Kofi.

  3. Rodney Dill Avatar
    Rodney Dill

    battles against Israel would not be ended with cease-fires or agreements.

    …Unless we need time to reload.

  4. JKB Avatar
    JKB

    So what he’s saying is, that now that this has started, we should let Israel finish it as best they can. Any attempt to broker a peace will not be honored by the terrorists. Who knew it would be that way?

  5. McGehee Avatar
    McGehee

    This is a historic day. Al Qaeda has declared World Jihad I.

  6. DaveD Avatar
    DaveD

    Yep, we are declaring big jihad right here from our bunker under this pre-school.

  7. charles austin Avatar
    charles austin

    They hate us! They really, really hate us!

  8. Rick DeMent Avatar
    Rick DeMent

    So much for the idea that al Qaeda will refuse to work with Hezbollah because they are hated Shiites.

    Well as long as the immediate goals are aligned, anyone will work with anyone. I mean the US worked with Saddam Hussein after he committed the atrocities for which he is currently standing trial right?

  9. LJD Avatar
    LJD

    O.K. Rick, we get it. It doesn’t matter what anyone esle does as long as we know the U.S. is bad, bad, bad.

    So, when are you leaving?

  10. madmatt Avatar
    madmatt

    The enemy of my enemy is my friend…at least temporarily!!! It is how we work with all sorts of despotic scum like the sauds and uzbeks to torture brown people we can’t get to confess to crimes…and to keep oil flowing and oil company profits rising.

  11. Anderson Avatar
    Anderson

    Dan Drezner linked to an op-ed which explained that Qaeda and Hezbollah are rivals, and that Qaeda is doubtless upset to see itself becoming the has-been of terror clubs.

    This news fits right into that analysis. The upshot is that Qaeda has all the more incentive to do something dramatic. We may be soon to find out whether or not they’ve actually been working on anything.

  12. ken Avatar
    ken

    If Bush had done his job these guys would all be either captives by now awaiting justice, or dead.

    That al queda even still exists and is free to make such pronouncements is a failure of stupendous proportions.

    But hey, Saddam is in jail.

  13. James Joyner Avatar
    James Joyner

    Anderson: Yep, it’s the Haykel piece that I link in the post 😉

  14. Anderson Avatar
    Anderson

    Anderson: Yep, itâ??s the Haykel piece that I link in the post 😉

    Small world, isn’t it?

    Okay, so much for my plan to get through the morning without coffee ….

  15. LJD Avatar
    LJD

    Well Ken, had Clinton done his job, 9/11 and many other Al Qaeda attacks, would never have happened. Does that blow your mind, or what?

  16. Daniel DiRito Avatar
    Daniel DiRito

    While our democracy, in the hands of the neocons, moves towards using force to export and expand democracy, those we deem as extremists are using persuasion to democratically assume power. That, in my opinion, is perhaps the epitome of irony. Worse yet, it is an indication that our foreign policy is an unmitigated failure that may well alter the world order for decades.

    Read an analysis that discusses the implications of the current U.S. foreign policy and how the neoconservatives have simply leaped over the politics of conflict…here:

    http://www.thoughttheater.com

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