Al-Qeada gets desperate against Obama.

[SirNitram]

Link

Soon after the November election, al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader took stock of America's new president-elect and dismissed him with an insulting epithet. "A house Negro," Ayman al-Zawahiri said.

That was just a warm-up. In the weeks since, the terrorist group has unleashed a stream of verbal tirades against Barack Obama, each more venomous than the last. Obama has been called a "hypocrite," a "killer" of innocents, an "enemy of Muslims." He was even blamed for the Israeli military assault on Gaza, which began and ended before he took office.

"He kills your brothers and sisters in Gaza mercilessly and without affection," an al-Qaeda spokesman declared in a grainy Internet video this month.

The torrent of hateful words is part of what terrorism experts now believe is a deliberate, even desperate, propaganda campaign against a president who appears to have gotten under al-Qaeda's skin. The departure of George W. Bush deprived al-Qaeda of a polarizing American leader who reliably drove recruits and donations to the terrorist group.

With Obama, al-Qaeda faces an entirely new challenge, experts say: a U.S. president who campaigned to end the Iraq war and to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and who polls show is well liked throughout the Muslim world.

Whether the pro-Obama sentiment will last remains to be seen. On Friday, the new administration signaled that it intends to continue at least one of Bush's controversial counterterrorism policies: allowing CIA missile strikes on alleged terrorist hideouts in Pakistan's autonomous tribal region.

But for now, the change in Washington appears to have rattled al-Qaeda's leaders, some of whom are scrambling to convince the faithful that Obama and Bush are essentially the same.

"They're highly uncertain about what they're getting in this new adversary," said Paul Pillar, a former CIA counterterrorism official who lectures on national security at Georgetown University. "For al-Qaeda, as a matter of image and tone, George W. Bush had been a near-perfect foil."

Al-Qaeda's rhetorical swipes at Obama date to the weeks before the election, when commentators on Web sites associated with the group debated which of the two major presidential candidates would be better for the jihadist movement. While opinions differed, a consensus view supported Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) as the man most likely to continue Bush administration policies and, it was hoped, drive the United States more deeply into a prolonged guerrilla war.

Soon after the vote, the attacks turned personal -- and insulting. In his Nov. 16 video message, Zawahiri denounced Obama as "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" such as Malcolm X. He then used the term "house Negro," implying that Obama is merely a servant carrying out the orders of powerful whites.

Since then, as Obama has begun moving to reverse controversial Bush administration policies, the verbal attacks have become sharper, more frequent and more clearly aimed at Muslim audiences.

On Jan. 6, Zawahiri issued a message calling for a global jihad by Muslims to counter Israel's military campaign in Gaza. He then sought to frame the Israeli assault as a "link in the chain of the crusade against Islam and Muslims," with then-President-elect Obama at the head of the chain.

"These raids are Obama's gift to you before he takes office," the Egyptian-born Zawahiri said in the message, addressed to "Muslim brothers and mujaheddin."

"This is Obama, whom the American machine of lies tried to portray as the rescuer who will change the policy of America," Zawahiri said, according to a translation provided by Site Intelligence Group, a private company that monitors jihadist communications.

Days before Obama's inauguration, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden chimed in with a mocking prediction that the new president would founder under the weight of the military and financial burdens he would inherit. No matter what he tried to do, Obama would ultimately lose, bin Laden said on Jan. 14.

"If he withdraws from the war, it is military defeat," he said in an audiotaped message. "And if he continues it, he drowns in economic crisis. How can it be that [Bush] passed over to him two wars, not one war, and he is unable to continue them? We are on our path to open other fronts, with permission from Allah."

Friday, a new al-Qaeda salvo attempted to embarrass Obama, a day after the new president announced his plans for closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Appearing on the videotaped message were two men who enlisted in al-Qaeda after being freed from that detention center.

"By Allah, imprisonment only increased our persistence in our principles for which we went out, did jihad for and were imprisoned for," said Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shahri, who described himself as a deputy commander for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The translation was also provided by the Site group.

Site founder Rita Katz said the messages show "just how much al-Qaeda is intimidated by Obama."

"The leadership of al-Qaeda is very concerned about the wide support that Obama has been receiving from Arab and Muslim countries," Katz said. "To combat this threat, al-Qaeda has embarked on a propaganda campaign against Obama, not only by linking him to the policies of the Bush administration, including the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, but also by accusing him of actions in which he had no part."

Other jihadist groups appear less threatened, or perhaps more accepting of an American commander who appears more open to peaceful accommodation, Katz said. A publication known as Al-Samoud, linked to the Taliban in Afghanistan, viewed Obama's election as a welcome sign that Americans are "very much tired from the bitter war" and do not wish to prolong a conflict "ignited by Bush's insanity and his satanic policy."

Regardless of how Obama is viewed now by the Muslim world -- savior, menace or something in between -- the opinions will almost certainly change in the coming months. For Muslim countries, as for the United States, perceptions based on rhetoric and image will soon collide with reality as the policies of the new administration take form, said Pillar, the former CIA official.

"Inevitably Obama will make certain decisions that will be unpopular and which the propagandists will quickly castigate," Pillar said. "I expect that the honeymoon will be just as fragile and short as with the American electorate."

As I once said aloud after hearing a National Realtors Association ad, quite spontaneously.. 'I can smell your fear!'

[Kuja]

...am I the only one here who read that and was rather reminded of more than one troll right here at SDN who flipped out and went off the deep end with a screaming diatribe complete with racial epithets right before getting the banhammer dropped on them?

The mental image of Al-Queda getting banned from life in some sort of bizarre sci-fi parallel to the internet is a very happy one indeed.

[Alyeska]

This also confirms something I've long suspected. The Terrorists loved having Bush in office because it gave them a purpose and public support.

[The Original Nex]

This also confirms something I've long suspected. The Terrorists loved having Bush in office because it gave them a purpose and public support.

Too bad the main stream media is only catching on now, to what rational people saw years ago.

[CaptJodan]

This also confirms something I've long suspected. The Terrorists loved having Bush in office because it gave them a purpose and public support.

Precisely. I mean, damn, this more than anything else should (but won't) smack republican supporters in the face. Those saying he's allied with terrorists, while supposedly mighty McCain will protect us all and voting for him would piss off the terrorists.

In fact, the reverse is true. America may not be beloved again, but it might be on its way to repairing a lot of its damaged reputation, and that scares them.

[Duckie]

I like how now that the election is over, the Media can easily report that Al-Qaeda was known to support John McCain as a continuation of Bush in order to get more recruits, but beforehand it was taboo for them to have an opinion.

[Ma Deuce]

Anyone caught the "death to Obama" rallies in Iran? same thing at work there, and it fits exactly in line with Stuart's summary of Iranian foreign policy, with is basically to piss off other countries without actually starting a war, in order to maintain enough external pressure to keep a lid on internal pressure. Although the Iranians are rational enough not to deliberately start a war with the West, the danger of their strategy is that like a drug addiction, you will increasingly need more to achieve the same effect, until finally you get to the point where the only way to increase external pressure would actually be to start a war.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Comrade Hugo turns openly hostile to Obama at some point, especially if the slump in oil prices continues: It doesn't serve his political interests not to have a big bad boogyman, especially with the economy in the toilet, even moreso in the case of petro-states.

[hongi]

Zawahiri denounced Obama as "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" such as Malcolm X.

I highly doubt Malcolm X would have seen a compliment from Al Qaeda as...well, a compliment.

[Patrick Degan]

I also wouldn't be surprised if Comrade Hugo turns openly hostile to Obama at some point, especially if the slump in oil prices continues: It doesn't serve his political interests not to have a big bad boogyman, especially with the economy in the toilet, even moreso in the case of petro-states.

Oh, Hugo already started doing that before the inauguration by babbling in much the same manner about Obama as al-Zawahiri did —just stopping short of the "house negro" line.

The problem these zeebs are facing is the prospect that too many of their target audience will get information that contradicts their propaganda no matter how much they try to shut it out, which makes them look more and more out-of-touch with reality. Obama is about the worst thing that could have happened to them.

[Ender]

This also confirms something I've long suspected. The Terrorists loved having Bush in office because it gave them a purpose and public support.

Absolutely. In ideology, the terrorists share much in common with Christian fundamentalists. They seek to bring about the Great Final Conflict, through which they bring about the kingdom of heaven. OBL wasn't so much interested in beating the US (though he firmly believes he will because Allah is on his side) as much as he wanted to just bring about as many wars and as wide and violent a conflict as possible. Bush was all about that, and in that manner actively aided the terrorists.

[HSRTG]

"He kills your brothers and sisters in Gaza mercilessly and without affection," an al-Qaeda spokesman declared in a grainy Internet video this month.

No wonder hippies are so reviled, they've been killing people with love!

More seriously, what the hell does this mean? What are they trying to say?

[Ender]

"He kills your brothers and sisters in Gaza mercilessly and without affection," an al-Qaeda spokesman declared in a grainy Internet video this month.

No wonder hippies are so reviled, they've been killing people with love!

More seriously, what the hell does this mean? What are they trying to say?

Honestly, the guy probably doesn't speak much english. It was probably a mistranslation of some sort and he read the script with the flaw and didn't know the difference.

[HSRTG]

Honestly, the guy probably doesn't speak much english. It was probably a mistranslation of some sort and he read the script with the flaw and didn't know the difference.

Ah, that makes sense, thank you.

[Ma Deuce]

Oh, Hugo already started doing that before the inauguration by babbling in much the same manner about Obama as al-Zawahiri did —just stopping short of the "house negro" line.

I must have missed that; all I remember from him is telling Obama he should save money by slashing military spending and closing overseas bases, but no outright denounciation. Like I said though, it doesn't surprise me, though in his case I was expecting him to wait for Obama to actally do something he didn't like as President before pouring on the negative rhetoric.

On the other hand, Cuba seems quite ecstatic about Obama and for good reason, as they are now closer to getting Helms-Burton eased or repealed than ever (in truth, I doubt that will happen unless the Democrats make strong gains in the 2010 mid-terms at the very least), and Fidel himself recently wrote a piece praising Obama; though he isn't calling the shots anymore, I doubt his opinion would change even if he was, given that he consolidated his power base a long time ago and would not need an external enemy to keep it, and neither does his brother. As long as Raul keeps the churning out the occasoinal liberalization as he has been so far, he should have no trouble keeping his population content, and provided he doesn't do anything too drastic (which I doubt he will, given his pragmatic ways), I doubt the Cuban political establishment will step out of line either.

[Count Chocula]

Meh...Bush was a great stalking horse for Al-Qeada because, under his administration, he opened the US military's can of whoop-ass on them. If, in an alternate reality, Barack O. was president in 2000, he would have pulled the tab on the same can back in 2001, and HE'd be on Al-QeAda's recruiting posters aS The Great Satan (TM). Maybe without Gitmo, but still..it seems to be more a sign of the office than the person in it, as far as Al-Qeada's concerned.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Oh please. As stated above, unlike Bush, Obama is actually well-rated in the Arab/Islamic world. Bush could have not done such a shittastic job, and then he and we wouldn't be so hated there.

[Count Chocula]

Are you contending that if, for example, Obama had sent troops into Afghanistan and Iraq, and utterly routed Al Qaeda as has happened over the past 7 years, he would NOT be reviled by AQ as much as Bush? The guys throwing bombs and shooting guns in the Islamic world are not, by and large, the same Arabs/Muslims who generally approve of Obama.

[Darth Raptor]

I would contend that, had anyone other than GWB been president in 2001, there wouldn't have been an Iraq War. Afghanistan? Yes. Unavoidable. Iraq? It happened and it's *still* inconceivable.

[Ender]

I would contend that, had anyone other than GWB been president in 2001, there wouldn't have been an Iraq War. Afghanistan? Yes. Unavoidable. Iraq? It happened and it's *still* inconceivable.

I question if we would even be in Afghanistan. Let's not forget that Clinton and the Dems were actively hunting Osama Bin Laden years before he was known to anyone outside intelligence circles. In fact he took heavy fire from the Republicans for it. So the summer of 2001, while Bush was hyping China as the looming threat of the future and taking a vacation in Texas, I would expect that Gore would have listened to the intelligence reports and been preparing. It is entirely possible that, had Bush given a damn about his job, 9/11 would not have happen, or have at least been seriously mitigated. People like to talk that Bush kept the country safe for 7 years. But he was president for 8. That's a pretty significant failure that he should be called out on every chance it comes out.

If it had, we still would have brought the heavy end of the hammer down on Afghanistan. But it might have been avoided.

[Knife]

lol. Transparent attempt to stay relevant. They want to be seen as SPECTOR or some such analogy instead of the desert rednecks they are.

[Lord of the Abyss]

I like how now that the election is over, the Media can easily report that Al-Qaeda was known to support John McCain as a continuation of Bush in order to get more recruits, but beforehand it was taboo for them to have an opinion.

For that matter, Al Qaeda was known to support Bush's re-election; I recall a leaked CIA memo from back then that said that Bin Laden was believed to be deliberately timing releasing his statements to shore up Bush during low points in his campaign by exciting anti-terrorist fervor. You certainly didn't hear that mentioned much in the Media . . .

Meh...Bush was a great stalking horse for Al-Qeada because, under his administration, he opened the US military's can of whoop-ass on them.

Are you contending that if, for example, Obama had sent troops into Afghanistan and Iraq, and utterly routed Al Qaeda as has happened over the past 7 years, he would NOT be reviled by AQ as much as Bush?

Bush didn't "open a can of whoop-ass" on them; he's handed them victory after victory. If Bush had been an uncover agent for Al Qaeda he probably couldn't have done more for them. America politically and morally discredited ? Check. America's economy and military screwed over ? Check. Saddam dead ? Check. Iraqi secularism destroyed ? Check. The Middle East democracy movement ( such as it was ) discredited ? Check. And on, and on.

Obama - or nearly any other President wouldn't be "reviled" any less - but he'd probably be feared more by Al Qaeda than Bush. Because most Presidents would actually go after Al Qaeda instead of wasting most of their efforts on third parties. And most Presidents wouldn't be so politically tone deaf as to openly support torture.

[Shogoki]

The war on Iraq wouldn't have happened simply because Obama, Gore, or almost anyone else wouldn't be both under pressure to grant billionaire contracts to daddy's buddies and actually be corrupt enough to drag the country down for them.

[Darth Wong]

Meh...Bush was a great stalking horse for Al-Qeada because, under his administration, he opened the US military's can of whoop-ass on them. If, in an alternate reality, Barack O. was president in 2000, he would have pulled the tab on the same can back in 2001, and HE'd be on Al-QeAda's recruiting posters aS The Great Satan (TM). Maybe without Gitmo, but still..it seems to be more a sign of the office than the person in it, as far as Al-Qeada's concerned.

You still think Iraq and Al-Qaeda are the same thing?

Muslims around the world hate Bush because he attempted to turn the war against Al-Qaeda into a global war against all Muslim fundamentalist everywhere. His administration and supporters even said as much, calling it a "clash of civilizations". I'm no fan of Muslim fundamentalists, but when you go around saying that you want to wipe out the whole movement, it's going to play perfectly into the hands of Al-Qaeda rhetoric.

The fucking idiot even called it a "crusade" on national TV. Not to mention supporting torture of prisoners; do you think Muslims don't get news like that?

[Illuminatus Primus]

Are you contending that if, for example, Obama had sent troops into Afghanistan and Iraq,

Unrealistic fabrication. Why would he have sent troops into Iraq? Obama became a darling of the progressives because he opposed the war while a state senator during the lead-up to it. You do not get to doctor reality so your arguments become true.

and utterly routed Al Qaeda as has happened over the past 7 years,

Utter falsehood. I suppose this bit of tripe is why Afghanistan is falling apart and NIEs rate it as having reconstituted to pre-war strength and capability, except now stuck in a country where we, for political reasons, cannot overrun them, while also doing a good job of reversing all our gains in Afghanistan? Now you're just lying.

he would NOT be reviled by AQ as much as Bush?

In case you can't read, Obama is as disliked as Bush by AQ, and probably as much as any realistic American POTUS. However, if you could read, maybe you'd notice that wasn't the point. The problem is AQ's opinion of Bush has VERY BROAD SUPPORT among AVERAGE MUSLIMS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD and this is casually connected to bad decision making on his part. Are you seriously contending that the unnecessary and unjustified war in Iraq had NO IMPACT on Muslim opinion of Bush and the United States? How about Abu Ghraib? Gitmo? Black sites? Extraordinary rendition and torture? Your position could only be true if ALL of these decisions by Bush had NO IMPACT in popular opinion in the Muslim world toward the U.S. Something which is intuitively absurd, and empirically untrue (to wit, they did polling which shows Obama has broader support than Bush, and U.S. favorable opinion polling declined precipitously during Iraq and as the Administration wore on).

The guys throwing bombs and shooting guns in the Islamic world are not, by and large, the same Arabs/Muslims who generally approve of Obama.

This would only be meaningful if the number of all AQ, anti-U.S. fighters currently in existance today had signed up prior to 9/11 or would have afterward regardless of our actions. This is empirically untrue. American policies have improved AQ's ability to recruit from the Muslim Street, something known to be improved as a direct result of public reaction to actions and policies during the Bush Administration.

[Kanastrous]

lol. Transparent attempt to stay relevant. They want to be seen as SPECTOR or some such analogy instead of the desert rednecks they are.

S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

The Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion.

No offense; it's just such a cool acronym that it bears correction.

And yes, Ernst Stavro Blofeld would cheerfully urinate all over Al Qaeda as a bunch of pikers.