New Signs of Al-Qaeda Weakness

By Hawkeye®

In his most recent audiotape released on Tuesday, April 22nd, Al-Qaeda's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri revealed more signs of weakness within the terror organization. In the audiotape, he criticized Muslims for failing to support Islamist insurgencies in Iraq and elsewhere. "I call upon the Muslim nation... about its failure to support its brothers of the Mujahedeen, and (urge it) not to withhold men and money, which is the mainstay of a war," he said.

Apparently then, Al-Qaeda is finding it difficult to find men and money to prosecute its war of terror. "I urge all Muslims to hurry to the battlefields of Jihad, especially in Iraq," he said. Zawahiri would not be issuing such a call-to-arms if recruits were lining up to fight "the Crusaders".

Zawahiri's statements also seem to confirm my conjecture that Al-Qaeda may be having finanacial difficulties. In my article "Taliban, Breaking With Al-Qaeda?" dated March 16th, I suggested in the closing paragraph that, "With its loss of influence, Al-Qaeda may be losing financial support". Zawahiri is saying in effect, that this is precisely what has happened. Those who formerly supported the terror group have begun to "withhold" money.

Such signs of weakness have been noted by others, for example HERE and HERE. In my March 16th article, I provided a litany of examples showing Al-Qaeda's loss of influence in the Muslim world, and questioned whether or not there might even be a rift developing between Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The basis for my suggestion was founded upon the apparent overture of the Taliban towards Tehran.

As if to support my contention, Zawahiri also used his most recent message as an opportunity to lash out at Iran. In response to a question about the theory that Israel was behind the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Zawahiri accused Hezbollah (an Iranian ally) of starting the rumor. "The purpose of this lie is clear - (it suggests) that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no else did in history. Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it," he said.

It has been noted that this anti-Iranian rhetoric "is a stark change for al-Zawahri", who went so far as to "depict al-Qaida as the Arabs' top defense against the Persian nation's rising power in the Middle East". Zawahiri is undoubtedly mounting this campaign against Iran because Al-Qaeda is in trouble. In the struggle for Muslim hearts and minds, Al-Qaeda has been losing the PR battle. Osama bin Laden said it himself: "when people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse". Al-Qaeda now appears to be a "weak horse".

None of this is to say that Al-Qaeda is completely defeated, or that it cannot yet mount an effective terror strike. Nevertheless, it is still a sign of weakness, and it suggests that the Global War on Terror has been remarkably successful. Al-Qaeda is no longer the "strong horse" it once was, because it has been confronted with determination and persistence. Another "strong horse" has been beating it with military force, counter-terrorism measures, and democracy.