Steve Quayle News Alerts

May 4, 2005
By MICHAEL SCHEUER, Special for United Press International

WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- The news Wednesday of the arrest in Pakistan of the senior al-Qaida leader Abu Faraj Farj al-Libbi is another blow to the terror network of Osama bin Laden. But many question whether such captures actually make the United States safer, as there always seem to be plenty of replacements.

This mock report to bin Laden, cleared for publication by the CIA, was written by Michael Scheuer a 22-year agency veteran who was the head of the unit charged with tracking bin Laden, and reflects his view that despite admirable CIA accomplishments like the capture of al-Libbi, the United States is losing the war against terrorism.

The National Counterterrorism Center recently scored a major breakthrough with the interception of a Top Secret report from al-Qaida's Washington cell leader to Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. Its heading: "The Bleed-to-Bankruptcy War." Its highlights (translated from Arabic):

On the 10th anniversary of you sending me to America, I thought I should give you a summary appraisal of where al-Qaida and its allies stand in regard to America's assumptions about and understanding of what our movement is motivated by and trying to do. I have followed your instructions to the letter. As a white American Muslim convert, I and my family have lived an ordinary life here outside Washington. I have held the same, well-paid engineering job for these last 10 years, and as you told me, I have had no association with anyone who the Americans could remotely identify as an "Islamic militant." I have, as you ordered, told no one -- not even my American wife -- that I had the honor to serve God by fighting the communists in Afghanistan. As you directed, I have simply observed life, read widely in the American media and scholarly journals, and have followed closely the words of major political leaders. After a decade, therefore, I thought it best to tell you what I see as the downside and upside of our having decided to fight the United States in the war brother Osama describes as the bleed-to-bankruptcy war.

First, the Huge Downside of this War: We are, put simply, being hunted and attacked by the most powerful nation in the history of the world. Its people hate us with a vengeance for the blessed September raid, and their efforts against us are powered by a wonderfully -- even amazingly -- productive economy. In addition, the American population -- although far from perfectly equitable -- is on the whole tolerant, including toward their Muslim fellow citizens. At this point, brothers, we do not have the advantage here provided by the aggressively racist and anti-Islamic policies followed by most countries of the European Union. But on that score, as you have said brother Ayman, Allah will ensure that the cradles of Muslim homes will ultimately return Andalusia and all of Europe to the Muslim ummah. A final point of danger I must stress is that the military, emotional, patriotic, and economic power of this country is enormous, and we have yet to feel its impact. God willing, the Americans will continue to slumber.

Second, the Bounty of Advantages God has Given Us: Brothers, believe me, the Americans are either soundly asleep, unwilling to face reality, or fundamentally stupid. Based on my observations and discussions, they do not appear to have a clue as to what this war is about. This is, thanks to God, our greatest advantage. As examples, I cite the following for your consideration:

They do not understand our motivation; in American terms, "they have not figured out what makes us tick." Their political leaders of both parties, as well as their media, military, economic and social elites continue to claim al-Qaida hates America "for what it believes and how it lives" and not "for what the United States does in the Islamic world." Honestly brothers, only God's love for Muslim believers could have kept American elites so dense for so long. It is worth thinking and worrying about how long this self-imposed ignorance can last, but on that score there is also good news.
The Americans are hamstrung by their own self-imposed political correctness. In some ways the American press is not as free as that permitted by that apostate Pakistan tyrant Musharraf. And even if the Americans came to understand that tens of millions of Muslims hate their foreign policy and its impact, and not their society, it would take a near-revolution in public discourse in this country to allow a frank debate about the issue of motivation. Brothers, the indictment of the United States you have so clearly broadcast has put them at a disadvantage, for to discuss those points openly would be to breed a firestorm in U.S. politics for each of them has become a "'holy of holies" and political poison.

Unqualified Support for Israel: To criticize this policy would be a martyrdom operation for any U.S. politician. End of story. Our claims that Israel leads America around by the nose are true. If I was not living here I would not accept this contention, but in this country, thanks to God, criticism of Israel is not allowed. Men are called anti-Semitic and their careers ruined if they criticize Israel. The apostate Mubarak is criticized more openly in Egypt than is Israel in America.

Support for China, Russia and India Against Muslims: To question this would mean losing face with other great powers. The Americans do not seem to know how much their support for Putin's genocide against Chechen Muslims hurts them in the Muslim world. Brothers, only the Lord of the Universe could have put Bush so squarely on the side of butchers Putin and Sharon.

Energy Policy: This is unbelievable, Brothers, but three decades after King Faisal's blessed embargo, U.S. leaders are unwilling to install an energy policy that would remove Arab domination of their economy, and those of its allies. And just this month, the apostate Crown Prince Abdullah agreed to expand Saudi oil production by the end of the decade. Unbelievably, Bush welcomed this move, which will only increase America's dependence on Muslim oil, allow increased demand, and keep prices high. Imagine brothers, with the steady rise in the price of a barrel of oil from $35 to $55, our blessed financial supporters can increase their support for us to unprecedented levels. And of the irony, American parents are now paying exorbitant prices at the pump, and we are receiving a portion of those windfall profits to help us kill their soldier children in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

Support for Arab Allies: We are safe on this one, too, Brothers. Energy dependence means that the talk of democracy building in the Islamic world will remain mostly talk. Indeed, pictures of Bush's recent kissing and hand-holding with the apostate tyrant Abdullah will tell Muslims all they need to know about U.S. intentions. American leaders also do not have the courage to tell their people that they have deliberately made a mockery of America's heritage of freedom -- which so much of the Muslim world still admires -- by supporting Arab tyrannies and police states for many decades in Egypt, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and elsewhere. And Brothers, while the Israeli lobby has a powerful influence on the American Congress and media, the Saudi lobby is just as powerful and successful. The apostate al-Sauds send their smiling English-speaking sons like Ambassador Bandar to America -- he owns the Congress -- and Prince Turki to Britain and our infidel enemies believe they are dealing with true leaders of the Arabian Peninsula. And even more, the al-Sauds buy the loyalty of retired ambassadors, generals and intelligence officers to lobby the Congress and White House on their behalf. All the while, and for this all praise is due to the Lord of the Universe, our blessed Ulema in the Land of the Prophet (peace be upon him), are using funds from the al-Sauds to finance and preach the spread of God's word around the globe, and nowhere more aggressively than under the nose of the Bush administration right here in the United States. Islam's huge coming generation of Muslim youth is being educated by our Ulema in what the Americans call Wahhabism -- an Islamic theology more martial and ruthless than the Salafism of al-Qaida. The American elites take the al-Sauds' word as they would take a hallucinogenic drug. It denies them contact with reality and they believe -- they truly do, Brothers -- that Saudi Arabia is their ally, and all the while Saudi clerics are lighting a worldwide anti-American fire. God is great.

Military Presence in Muslim countries: Another safe area for us. As the Americans build bases in the Islamic world, they have no notion they are voluntarily donning the cloak of 19th century European imperialism and energizing a new generation of Mujahedin fighting in God's path. U.S. leaders have no conception of how the rehabilitation of this imperialistic image hurts America, and rallies Muslims to brother Osama's views. May God keep the Americans ignorant of each Muslim's possession of an extremely long historical memory.

American leaders continue to preach to their people that our movement has nothing to do with our blessed religion, nothing to do with Islam. Again, God is truly great. They call us terrorists, criminals, gangsters, deviants, psychopaths, murderers and they tell their people that we represent only the "lunatic fringe" of the Muslim world. And so important people like President Bush, President Clinton and hundreds of others in their elites claim "we will hunt them down one at a time and bring them to justice." Pray God this continues, for it ensures they will not recognize that our movement is large and growing; that your assertion that U.S. foreign policy is an attack on Islam resonates with hundreds of millions of Muslims, even if they disagree with al-Qaida; and that you, Brothers Osama and Ayman, are heroes and leaders in the Islamic world, especially among the youth. Americans do not know that their identification of you as 'gangsters' will offend all those who look up to you as good men and credible leaders in the otherwise leaderless Islamic world. May this go on indefinitely.

God has blessed us for at least 15 years with the reality that Americans have not found serious men of knowledge to lead them. Three-and-a-half years after 9/11, American leaders have not closed their borders or found out who is in their country. Only God could have provided our movement with such a miracle. Amazingly Brothers, American politicians lack the moral courage to enforce the laws they themselves have passed. They refuse to find out who is in their country and to stop illegal immigration because they loudly assert, "America is a beacon of liberty to the world that we do not want to dim." Long may America maintain and enhance this glow of liberty, which provides a light that warms, guides, and shelters al-Qaida and the many jihadi groups we have inspired around the world.

Another great advantage we have is that the Americans see our war against them only in terms of the detonation of explosives. There has been much proud crowing and preening here lately that America has not been attacked since the blessed 9/11 attack, and therefore America is winning the war against al-Qaida and its allies. May God keep them mired in this dream state. War, as we know, is so much more than detonating explosives, and these non-explosive attacks on America have continued every day since 9/11. I have learned the following in conversations with my work colleagues and casual social acquaintances. Admittedly these stories are mere anecdotes, but I believe they faithfully reflect the mood of this country.

We are slowly changing their way of life. People here are very upset with the increased difficulties of air travel and are appalled by the security that requires children of fourth grade to empty their pockets and clear a metal detector before entering an art museum.

They are unsettled by the "under-siege look" of their capital city. One man said to me in wonder: "Roosevelt did not have this much protection in all of World War II."

The budget deficit is spiraling. Brothers, when we next attack inside the United States, their economy will be weaker than in the days following the Tuesday of God's glory. It is impossible to imagine the amount of money they have spent since then on what they call "homeland defense" and on the wars they are running in Afghanistan and Iraq. And when we next attack, with God's permission, they will know that all this spending has been for naught, and we will tear the heart out of their economy and their morale as well.

The American people are frightened. I have heard much discussion about their worries of more al-Qaida attacks and their fears about the erosion of their civil liberties. It is as you said in 2001, Brother Osama, al-Qaida needs to do nothing to terrorize Americans because their leaders and the media will and are performing that task. May God make their fears worse.

Finally, Brothers, I close this too-long message with the great and happy news that the Americans do not appear to realize the wondrous opportunities they have opened for the al-Qaida movement and all believers by invading Iraq.

The Americans have now occupied the three most holy sanctities in Islam -- the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Jerusalem. Regarding Jerusalem, the Americans fail to understand they are viewed by Muslims as interchangeable with Israelis -- every bit of Muslim hatred for Israelis, praise be to God, also accrues to Americans. By occupying our sanctities, they have made Iraq a magnet for mujahedin far more powerful than the blessed land of jihad in Afghanistan ever was.

And by occupying Iraq, the Americans have made your predictions come true in the eyes of the Muslim ummah. You said, "America will destroy all strong Muslim states," and it did. You said, "America will destroy all threats to Israel," and it did. You said, "America will seize Muslim oil," and it did. You said, "America will replace God's law with blasphemous, man-made laws," and it did. Praise to the Almighty God for showing you the truth, Brother Osama.

God has now properly validated your call for a defensive jihad in accordance with the terms of His Blessed religion. In their intensely legalistic way, the Americans always have taken delusionary solace from the fact that neither of you are trained Islamic scholars, convincing themselves that, because you lacked a diploma, no one could legitimately answer your call to jihad. Now, the Americans' invasion of Iraq has called forth fatwas from many well-credentialed Islamic scholars declaring the defensive jihad in exactly the terms in which you have spoken. Praise to God, the Sustainer of both worlds.

Finally, the American leaders do not see in Iraq they have opened a door for us to project our forces into Jordan, Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and thence onward to Lebanon and Israel. Brothers, the Americans see Iraq as honey to attract mujahedin so they can be killed there. They fail to see that their military presence in Iraq not only gives us U.S. targets, but that it is helping to satisfy Brother Osama's goal of securing contiguous safe haven from which to infiltrate and attack the apostate regimes of the Levant and Turkey. It will be too late, God willing, when the Americans discover that the flow of non-Iraqi mujahedin through Iraq into the Levant, Turkey and the Gulf is far more dangerous to their interests than the mujahedin entering Iraq from Syria and Jordan.

So for now, dear Brothers, the good news outweighs the bad by a large measure. But we must remember that America is a powerful enemy and one terrible in war when roused to a united and focused anger. Our advantage now lies in their failure to understand their enemy. Part of this failure is due to their woeful lack of knowledge of history -- both ours and their own -- and the rest is due to a rampant moral cowardice that prevents meaningful debate over foreign policy because of the potential such a debate holds for devastating domestic political consequences. Their leaders' combination of historical ignorance and moral cowardice are, with God's support, a potential war-winner for us. They cannot develop a strategy to defeat us as long as they do not understand us. However, always remember, dear Brothers, we must wage war aggressively and viciously for we must not count on the Americans remaining ignorant forever. They may someday -- may it be far in the future -- recognize that their destiny is in their own hands. Only they can change the foreign policies that are powering our drive to God's victory. Yes, Brother, God helps those who help themselves, and so we must continue to carry this war to the Americans while they remain asleep. God bless you both and all our heroic fighters. Abu Alec.

(Michael Scheuer headed Alec Station, the CIA unit charged with tracking bin Laden, from 1996 to 1999. Before he retired from the agency last year, he anonymously authored two books critical of the U.S. strategy in its conflict with al-Qaida, the most recent of which is titled "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror.")

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