Bush Plan vs. Al Qaeda's Four Phase Plan

It now looks like President Bush’s speech was even better than originally thought. Michael Barone (via Powerline) gives his take:

The third interesting new thing in this speech was Bush’s description of what could happen if we fail in Iraq:

(GW) Some observers also claim that America would be better off by cutting our losses and leaving Iraq now. This is a dangerous illusion, refuted with a simple question: Would the United States and other free nations be more safe, or less safe, with Zarqawi and bin Laden in control of Iraq, its people, and its resources?

I am struck by the sublime indifference of most critics of Bush’s Iraq policy to the fate of the Iraqi people. They are totally unexultant about the overthrow of a vicious dictatorship and seem to have no interest at all in what would happen to Iraqis if we leave suddenly. Hitchens has argued persuasively that no one deserves the label of liberal who is so indifferent to whether others live in freedom or under tyranny.

Not only was this a wonderful segment from President Bush’s National Security Policy that was laid out yesterday, but it is clear that after the announcement today from an intercepted Al Qaeda letter, that President Bush was right on mark…

The US intercepted a letter from Al Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri warning leader Abu Musab Zarqawi of alienating too many Muslims with all of the beheadings in Iraq. Zawahiri also outlines a Four Phase Plan for Al Qaeda:

The letter of instructions and requests outlines a four-stage plan, according to officials:
First, expel American forces from Iraq.
Second, establish a caliphate over as much of Iraq as possible.
Third, extend the jihad to neighboring countries, with specific reference to Egypt and the Levant — a term that describes Syria and Lebanon.
And finally, war against Israel.

U.S. officials say they were struck by the letter’s emphasis on the centrality of Iraq to al Qaeda’s long-term mission. One of the two excerpts provided by officials quotes Zawahiri, a former doctor from Egypt, telling his Jordanian-born ally, “I want to be the first to congratulate you for what God has blessed you with in terms of fighting in the heart of the Islamic world, which was formerly the field for major battles in Islam’s history, and what is now the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era.”

But bin Laden’s deputy also purportedly makes clear that the war would not end with an American withdrawal and that anything other than religious rule in Iraq would be dangerous.

Sounds like George Bush and the other warmongers were right. The battle is Iraq and the battle is now!

It’s too bad Bill Clinton doesn’t think our chances of winning in Iraq are so good according to his take on history.

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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