al-Zarqawi: "Democracy is a lie"

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2005-01-23 03:23pm

(CNN) -- An Internet recording claiming to be from wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi condemned democracy as "the big American lie" on Sunday and said participants in Iraq's January 30 election are enemies of Islam.

The authenticity of the message could not immediately be confirmed by CNN.

"We have declared a bitter war against democracy and all those who seek to enact it," said the speaker in the 35-minute message.

"Democracy is also based on the right to choose your religion," he said, and that is "against the rule of God."

The message was posted on two Islamist Web sites that have carried previous messages thought to be from al-Zarqawi. Al-Zarqawi heads an insurgent group believed responsible for numerous car bombings and beheadings throughout Iraq.

Al-Zarqawi recently renamed his group from Unification and Jihad to al Qaeda in Iraq. The United States has placed $25 million bounties on al-Zarqawi and Osama bin Laden, whose recent taped messages have endorsed al-Zarqawi's acts of terrorism. (Full story)

The speaker attacked the Iraqi interim government as a tool used by the "Americans to promote this lie that is called democracy ... You have to be careful of the enemy's plots that involve applying democracy in your country and confront these plots, because they only want to do so to ... give the rejectionists the rule of Iraq. And after fighting the Baathists ... and the Sunnis, they will spread their insidious beliefs, and Baghdad and all the Sunni areas will become Shiite. Even now, the signs of infidelity and polytheism are on the rise."

The speaker said that 4 million Iranians had entered Iraq to vote in the coming elections.

"Oh, people of Iraq, where is your honor?" he asked. "Have you accepted oppression of the crusader harlots ... and the rejectionist pigs?"

"For all these issues, we declared war against, and whoever helps promote this and all those candidates, as well as the voters, are also part of this, and are considered enemies of God," the tape said.

On Friday, a video posted on an Islamist Web site showed two Iraqis apparently being beheaded on a city sidewalk. In the past, the Web site has shown video verified as having been produced by a group led by al-Zarqawi. CNN could not confirm the authenticity of the video.

In the 10-minute video, the two men tell their kidnappers that they drove truckloads of food and supplies to a U.S. base in the central Iraqi town of Ramadi.
Election details released

Extraordinary security measures, including a ban on weapons, restrictions on who may drive and a curfew, will be in place before and during elections on January 30, a top Iraqi official said Saturday.

"The government's goal is to provide a secure Iraq," Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said. "We have taken all necessary procedures to secure this purpose. All our security forces have been put on alert ... all citizens should abide by these rules and measures."

Also, Baghdad's airport will be closed on January 29 and 30, al-Naqib said.

January 29, 30 and 31 have been declared holidays in Iraq, the minister said. Many areas will have a curfew from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. on those days and anyone in violation will be arrested, he said.

Anyone carrying a weapon will be arrested and the weapon confiscated, he said.

Iraq's borders will be closed except to Iraqis returning from the annual hajj pilgrimage, the minister said. No transfer between provinces will be permitted.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-01-23 03:25pm

Boring. The guy's just repeating that which has been said by radical Islamacists and the like for at least four decades. He should get a new scriptwriter or better yet, eat a bullet.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2005-01-23 03:32pm

LOL! The US should give this guy more airtime that was one of the best speaches ever to the Iraqis regarding why democratic elections are needed.

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2005-01-23 03:59pm

CJvR wrote:LOL! The US should give this guy more airtime that was one of the best speaches ever to the Iraqis regarding why democratic elections are needed.

Maybe he could convince the Information Minister to repent of having been a Baathist and to work for him

Also do you notice how he is consistently alienating the Shiia majority?

Falkenhayn · Post by **Falkenhayn** » 2005-01-23 04:23pm

Lord Zentei wrote:
CJvR wrote:LOL! The US should give this guy more airtime that was one of the best speaches ever to the Iraqis regarding why democratic elections are needed.
Maybe he could convince the Information Minister to repent of having been a Baathist and to work for him

Also do you notice how he is consistently alienating the Shiia majority?

I'm willing to be, that like the majority of Sunni Islamists, you would have a hard time convincing him that the Shi'a are people, let alone a group worth talking to.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2005-01-23 05:11pm

He's trying to spark off a civil war. Constantly insulting the Shiite majority is part of the plan.

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2005-01-23 05:20pm

Beowulf wrote:He's trying to spark off a civil war. Constantly insulting the Shiite majority is part of the plan.

Naturally. However his own chances of creating a Sunni theocracy are diminished thereby. Unfortunately he is too crazy to see that a group with only 25% of the population would inevitably be at a grave disadvantage in any civil war, particularly as he is also against the Baathist reactionary element who also draw their support from the Sunni Arabs