Another One for the Duh File

More on Zawahiri's message to President Obama. Again, hopefully since Zawahiri has displayed remarkable intolerance by calling the President a "house negro," we hope the Left will now become fully engaged in the Long War. The problem is, for the Left, it will be mostly about capturing Zawahiri so he can be put through mandatory sensitivity training. As they have characteristically seen the problem as being Al Qaeda in general and Osama bin Laden in specific. Once bin Laden is comfortably put away in Club Fed and Zawahiri has been made to see the error of his politically incorrect ways - the war is over.

For the rest of us, however, a full engagement in the Long War means a struggle across a variety of fronts. For as Zawahiri's message made abundantly clear to all but the most willfully blind. Their goals are not narrow.

Echoing this assessment of the global Jihadi drive, Zawahiri asks the followers of this ideology -not just his membership - to relentlessly fight against what he perceives as the "Grand Crusade." A stark reminder that the forces, which waged their campaigns against the United States as of the early 1990s peaking on 9/11 and widening their warfare to dozens of countries since, aren't going back to the pre 9/11 mode. Once again, al Qaeda's number two offers a deal to the "infidel powers": quit and withdraw from this entire region or face a greater war. It is a chilling statement of the so-called Jihadi offensive. It is not just about Iraq: It is about the Planet as a whole. He goes on:

"And my fifth message is to all the world's weak and oppressed. I tell them: America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always. And the Mujahideen of Islam, by the grace of Allah, continue to be the spearhead of the resistance against it to restrain it from injustice, aggression and arrogance. As for my final message, it is to the American people. I tell it: you incurred defeat and losses from the foolish actions of Bush and his gang, and at the same time, Shaykh Usama bin Ladin (may Allah preserve him) sent you a message to withdraw from the lands of the Muslims and refrain from stealing their treasures and interfering in their affairs. So choose for yourself whatever you like, and bear the consequences of your choice, and as you judge, you will be judged."

Against all other reactions, both positive and neutral, vis-a-vis Obama's election, al Qaeda stands firm in rejecting the new leadership even before the President elect takes office in January. From a politico-psychological perspective the master of Jihadism Usama Bin laden cannot be overshadowed by another international leader, particularly if that emerging figure is the President of the "Great Satan." Zawahiri's response to the election seems to re-frame the results of the election, one viewed worldwide as one of change. To al Qaeda there is no altering of direction in their struggle and agenda. In their own logic, either Obama will end American presence altogether in the Greater Middle East, or nothing will really change in the global battlefield.

Of course, the dirty little secret is that we are winning. It's been tough, but there is victory in Iraq where we have broken and shamed AQ, shia militias and the baathist leftovers. This is a victory in only one battle however, of a Long War.