Via AmericaBlog, this just in from ABCNews:
In a new video posted today on the Internet, al Qaeda's number two man, Ayman al Zawahiri, mocks the bill passed by Congress setting a timetable for the pullout of U.S. troops in Iraq.
"This bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in a historic trap," Zawahiri says in answer to a question posed to him an interviewer.Continuing in the same tone, Zawahiri says, "We ask Allah that they only get out of it after losing 200,000 to 300,000 killed, in order that we give the spillers of blood in Washington and Europe an unforgettable lesson."
Many of us on the left have been arguing for quite some time that staying in Iraq is precisely what al Qaeda hopes we will do. Supporters of the administration, by contrast, have long argued that al Qaeda is hoping that they can break our will and force us to leave early. VP Cheney, for example, constantly reminds us that we should listen to what al Qaeda is saying about our mission, and that we should do whatever is necessary to make sure they do not accomplish their goals. They want us to leave, he argues, so we must stay.
Now we finally have confirmation from the #2 man in al Qaeda which of those arguments is true. Al Qaeda believes they have caught US forces "in a historic trap." Democratic efforts to force withdrawal, he says, will deprive al Qaeda of a historic victory. He prays to Allah that such efforts will fail, and that US forces will remain in Iraq for years to come.
So which are you going to believe - claims about al Qaeda's motives and desires from the Vice President of the United States, or claims about al Qaeda's motives and desires from one of its most senior leaders?
UPDATE: The first response from NRO's Corner comes from KLo. I'll be honest. I can't make sense of what she is trying to say:
Unless you come up with some Bush's-Brain-planned-it theory, isn't that videotape just deeply depressing and demoralizing? And to know that political games are the cause of it.
I don't blame Democrats solely for this — that a Republican administration never adequately sold this war from the beginning is part of the problem — why so many Americans don't get it and Democrats are able to be weak on the war and be taken seriously. But it's a depressing state of affairs I pray we're not violently shaken from.
Zawahiri announces that he supports the president's policy and opposes the Democrat's, and she doesn't "blame Democrats solely for this"? What does that mean? And what precisely does "unless you come up with some Bush's-Brain-planned-it theory" mean? What possible reason would Rove have to hope for the release of a tape that showed al Qaeda supported the president's policy?
What is wrong with these people?
UPDATE II: To be fair, confusion over the meaning of this seems to be a bipartisan affair. Nicole Belle over at Crooks + Liars interprets this by saying that "al-Zawahiri couldn't have served up Republican talking points better if he was on Grover Norquist's fax distribution list."
I'll be honest: I'm lost. Zawahiri says Democratic efforts to withdraw our forces from Iraq will "deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces." How on earth is that a Republican talking point?
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