Al-Zarqawi group aims to strike beyond Iraq

[ProSense]

Al-Zarqawi group aims to strike beyond Iraq

In communiqués, al-Qaida in Iraq says bombers will soon bring ‘good news’
ANALYSIS
By Evan Kohlmann
Terrorism analyst
NBC News

Updated: 6:58 p.m. ET July 25, 2006

In recent communiqués that have received scant attention from Western analysts, the successors of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi at the helm of al-Qaida in Iraq claim to have deployed highly trained explosives teams outside Iraq and state that “good news” is expected to be forthcoming from these terrorist cells very soon.

The messages, posted in Arabic-language Internet chatrooms frequented by al-Qaida representatives and supporters, suggest that initial terrorist forays into Jordan and Lebanon last year by al-Qaida in Iraq were part of a deliberate and continuing strategy of expanding their jihad into Iraq’s susceptible neighbors.

According to al-Qaida in Iraq, the architect behind current efforts to use Iraq as an engine for international terrorism was a Libyan operative killed during the battle for the Iraqi city of Fallujah in late 2004. Abu Nasser al-Liby — as he was known — had no prior combat experience to speak of, but nonetheless quickly distinguished himself among his comrades. In order to cement his bond with al-Zarqawi’s organization, Abu Nasser teamed up with a veteran Afghan-trained explosives expert from Syria known as Abu Abdullah al-Shami.

Snip...

The belligerent tone of the communiqués calls into question early optimistic assessments from some observers predicting that the death of al-Zarqawi would cause an ideological collapse among his followers — pushing them to carry out more targeted conventional insurgent attacks and less indiscriminate violence against civilians, particularly foreigners and Shiites.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14012061

[Monkeyman]

1. Karl your plan to win on terror issues

[Igel]

2. They bring "good news",

Falwell brings "good news".

Odd way of evangelizing. But that kind of tactic worked before.

Then again, this time they playing to their base.

[ladjf]

3. That sounds pretty tough. However, if he has Lebanon in mind,

he'd better check out the bridges, airports, radio and telephone communications first. There's no way to get there or communicate.

Could he be talking about somewhere else? Where?