Qaeda No. 2 Says U.S. Fails in Iraq
Published: April 29, 2006

CAIRO, Saturday, April 29 (AP) — Hundreds of suicide bombings in Iraq have “broken the back” of the American military, Al Qaeda’s No. 2 said in a video posted Saturday on an Islamic Web site.

In the video Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian, also denounced the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq as “traitors” and called on Muslims to rise up to “confront them.” He said that American and British forces had bogged down in Iraq and “have achieved nothing but loss, disaster and misfortune.”

One American official said it was part of Al Qaeda’s ongoing propaganda campaign to try to demonstrate that it remained relevant.

Al Qaeda is a threat. And Iraq is no picnic. But nowadays, when I read a threat by one of these bozos, I can’t help but think of this exclusive from 2001:

“With every military advance you make, your forces become more spread out and weakened, while the Taliban’s become more concentrated in an increasingly small space,” bin Laden said. “You are practicing the mathematics of defeat. Give up now.”

“The noose is tightening,” said Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, gnawing on a dead horse’s hoof. “With every Taliban soldier you capture or kill, your selection of enemies grows more limited. Our remaining soldiers, on the other hand, enjoy a virtually limitless array of Allied soldiers to shoot. Before long, it will be virtually impossible for you to find someone to engage on the field of battle. Then, victory will be ours.”

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