The New York Times did make reference to the letter in its Tuesday article on Atiyah/Rahman's death, but not that quote. The Times reported that a "senior American official said that Mr. Rahman acted as Al Qaeda's 'human Rolodex,' an assessment bolstered by documents seized from Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
"For instance, in late 2005, Mr. Rahman chastised Abu Musab al Zarqawi -- the leader of Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq -- for carrying out attacks against Shiite Muslims, which he [Atiyah/Rahman] worried would fracture the insurgency against American troops in Iraq.
"Mr. Rahman wrote a letter to Mr. Zarqawi, whom he had known for years, threatening to remove him from the top of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia if he did not change his ways.
"More recently, according to the Abbottabad documents, Mr. Rahman weighed in about who should be in charge of Al Qaeda's group in Yemen, and he even helped broker the partnership between Al Qaeda and a North African militant group that eventually agreed to rename itself Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb."
But the Times avoids any analysis of whether Bush's post 9/11 obsession with Iraq, which had nothing to do with the terror attacks on New York and Washington, had been a godsend to al-Qaeda's leaders after they fled Afghanistan in late 2001. [For more, see Consortiumnews.com's "The Curious Bush/Bin Laden Symbiosis."]
"Staying the Course"
The Atiyah letter -- like a previously intercepted message attributed to al-Qaeda's then-second-in-command (and now top leader) Ayman Zawahiri -- suggested that a U.S. military pullout from Iraq in 2005 or earlier could have been disastrous for al-Qaeda's terrorist bands.
The "Zawahiri letter," which was dated July 9, 2005, said a rapid American military withdrawal could have caused the foreign jihadists, who had flocked to Iraq to battle the Americans, to simply give up the fight and go home.
"The mujahaddin must not have their mission end with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq, and then lay down their weapons, and silence the fighting zeal," said the "Zawahiri letter," according to a text released by the office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
Similarly, the Atiyah letter noted al-Qaeda's fragile foothold in Iraq and the need to gain allies.
"Know that we, like all mujahaddin, are still weak," Atiyah told Zarqawi. "We have not yet reached a level of stability. We have no alternative but to not squander any element of the foundations of strength or any helper or supporter."
The letter strongly cautioned Zarqawi "against attempting to kill any religious scholar or tribal leader who is obeyed, and of good repute in Iraq from among the Sunnis, no matter what.
"The long and short of the matter is that the Islamic theologians are the keys to the Muslim community and they are its leaders. This is the way it is, whether you like it or not. "If you appear before the community in the guise of a pariah to the class of religious scholars, contradicting them, disrespecting them, and insulting them, then you will lose the people and you will fail in any call [to religion] or political act.
"It is highly advisable to be polite and to show complete respect, regret, compassion, and mercy and so forth. You must incline yourself to this, and be humble to the believers, and smile in people's faces, even if you are cursing them in your heart, even if it has been said that they are "a bad tribal brother,' and what have you."
Beyond the significance of Atiyah's wish for a "prolonged" war, the letter underscored how al-Qaeda's tenuous position in Iraq depended on an ongoing U.S. military presence, just what the American neocons continue to demand as the current U.S.-Iraqi "status of forces agreement" calls for a complete departure of American troops by the end of this year.
The neocons, who remain influential in Washington, want the Obama administration to renegotiate the agreement to permit thousands of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq as "trainers" and "advisers." So far, Iraqi politicians have not agreed out of fear that they would be denounced as traitors to Iraqi sovereignty and strengthen extremist factions. But U.S. officials keep pushing for the extension.
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