Al-Qaeda's No. 2 said in an audiotape released Friday that the United States will lose whether it stays in Iraq or withdraws, and he sneered that President Bush just wants to pass the problem on to his successor.
The message from Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri released early Friday on an internet Web site appeared to be one of the most quickly prepared tapes produced by al-Qaida — referring to Congressional testimony only last week by the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus.
"The truth is that if Bush keeps all his forces in Iraq until doomsday and until they enter hell, they will only see crisis and defeat by the will of God," said al-Zawahri, the deputy of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. "If the American forces leave, they will lose everything. And if they stay, they will bleed to death," he said, according to the AP.
The 16-minute recording was entitled "Five Years of the Invasion of Iraq and Decades of Injustice by Tyrants."
"Bush declared that he will grant Petraeus all the time he needs, a ridiculous show to cover up for the failure in Iraq and to allow Bush to evade the decision to withdraw the forces, which is an admission of the failure of the crusader invasion of Iraq, by passing the problem on to the next president," al-Zawahri said.
Al-Zawahri also called in his latest message for Muslim support of jihad in Iraq, and for backing al-Qaeda's affiliate there, the Islamic State of Iraq. He taunted the so-called Awakening Councils in Iraq — Sunni fighters who switched sides and joined the Americans in fighting al-Qaeda. "Weren't these Awakening (Councils) supposed to hasten the departure of the American forces, or are these Awakenings in need of someone to defend them and protect them," al-Zawahri asked.
Al-Zawahri criticized anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has ordered his militia in Iraq to halt attacks on American and Iraqi forces. He "has become the laughing stock of the world" and is a "toy" in Iran's hands, he said. The al-Qaeda deputy also spoke out against mainly Shiite Iran and what he called its expansionist plans.
He said Tehran "has clear goals, which are the annexation of southern Iraq and the east of the Arabian Peninsula" as well as strengthening ties to its followers in southern Lebanon. He said that if Iran achieves its goals, "this will add oil to the fire which is already ablaze. This will explode the situation in an already exploding region."
