The limit to Al Qaeda’s appeal
There may be another positive foreign policy spillover from Iraq’s election — it is forcing Al Qaeda into rhetorical gambits that limit its appeal. Earlier this week Al Jazeera broadcast a tape by Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri responding to the Iraqi elections. As Reuters put it, the tape “blasted the ‘U.S. concept of freedom,’” ...
There may be another positive foreign policy spillover from Iraq's election -- it is forcing Al Qaeda into rhetorical gambits that limit its appeal. Earlier this week Al Jazeera broadcast a tape by Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri responding to the Iraqi elections. As Reuters put it, the tape "blasted the 'U.S. concept of freedom,'” In TNR Online, Joseph Braude translates and analyzes the text of the message. He concludes:
There may be another positive foreign policy spillover from Iraq’s election — it is forcing Al Qaeda into rhetorical gambits that limit its appeal. Earlier this week Al Jazeera broadcast a tape by Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri responding to the Iraqi elections. As Reuters put it, the tape “blasted the ‘U.S. concept of freedom,’” In TNR Online, Joseph Braude translates and analyzes the text of the message. He concludes:
On the question of whether Sunni Islamists of any shade should participate in Arab elections–be they in Gaza and the West Bank a few weeks back, or perhaps in Egypt down the road–Al Zawahiri seems to be taking a decisive stand. He urges the Ummah to “snatch back” the reins of power, apparently eschewing the possibility of gains for Islamists through a nonviolent electoral process. This is a rejection, for example, of Hamas ideologue Mahmoud Al Zahhar’s statement earlier this week to a Gaza newspaper suggesting that his movement might join the Palestinian legislative assembly. Al Qaeda may kill hundreds of innocents in Spain to influence the outcome of elections there–or deliver a tirade against George Bush on the eve of the American elections, apparently to influence voters here–but the movement seems to have no appetite for achieving its goals through elections in Arab and Muslim countries. In this respect, today’s message wasn’t just another hyperbolic rant. It drew a philosophical line in the sand. And among Arabs and Muslims, it may prove to be an unpopular one.
Read the whole thing. Middle East Online points out that Al Qaeda ain’t thrilled with economic integration either:
The new message made reference to [recent] events, including a December 16 agreement between Egypt and Israel, and historic January 30 elections in Iraq. “We cannot achieve reform when our leaders are seeking normalisation with Israel and destroying our economies for their own personal gains, like the QIZ (Qualified Industrial Zones) agreement signed by the Egyptian regime with Israel,” the voice said.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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