I’d like to thank Al Qaeda for clearing that up

Reuters’ Inal Ersan reports on a shocking announcement from Al Qaeda:  If it were in a position to do so, Al Qaeda would use Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States, a top leader of the group said in remarks aired Sunday…. "God willing, the nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands ...

By , 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.

Reuters' Inal Ersan reports on a shocking announcement from Al Qaeda

Reuters’ Inal Ersan reports on a shocking announcement from Al Qaeda

If it were in a position to do so, Al Qaeda would use Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States, a top leader of the group said in remarks aired Sunday….

"God willing, the nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands of the Americans and the mujahideen would take them and use them against the Americans," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the leader of al Qaeda’s in Afghanistan, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television.

Well, blow me down!!  I had no idea that this would have been their intent!  It’s a good thing Al Qaeda clarified their policy on nuclear weapons, because there had been some ambiguity on the matter.  I, for one, am also unclear about Al Qaeda’s position on Israel, or whether they think Adam Lambert got jobbed in American Idol

Seriously, there was one interesting wrinkle in the interview:

The militant leader said al Qaeda would be willing to accept a truce of about 10 years’ duration with the United States if Washington agreed to withdraw its troops from Muslim countries and stopped backing Israel and the pro-Western governments of Muslim nations.

I’m not saying the United States should take Al Qaeda up on the bargain, but I do find it interesting that they occasionally float bargains like this out there. 

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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