There are new tapes from al-Zawahri, al-Qaida's second in command, they say. One probably is not going to find a complete transcript of what al-Zawahri says. The best and largest amount of translation is probably at Al-Jazeera. I'll give you the quotes from the Al-Jazeera site below. But even Al-Jazeera said that they only showed about 10 percent of the tape. They showed about 5 minutes of the tape. Taahir Hoorzook, of the media relations department in Al-Jazeera, said: "The content of the rest of the tape which we didn't air, is the usual rhetoric, speaking about the Islamic lands occupied and stuff like that which we found not newsworthy." It may be newsworthy for the US because the US has never, or hardly ever, seen any of that "usual rhetoric." But the US big media certainly has a lot of its own rhetoric when it goes about interpreting what the tape is about and what al-Zawahri says. Most of what the media has been saying seems very dubious and slanted to follow what the US administration puts out as doctrine.
Unfortunately, what Bush has to say about the content of the tape seems to be the most dubious. For instance, he keeps pushing the oversimplified view that we are faced with a clash between freedom and tyranny without making any effort to understand or explain these issues in the present context. Bush's main approach is to characterize al-Qaida's philosophy as being dark and backward, and then he promotes the idea that they want to impose this dark tyranny on the whole world. So Bush's idea is that al-Qaida hates freedom and democracy (and they "do not appreciate women"), and because the US is pushing freedom and democracy (and respect for women) in Muslim lands, al-Qaida wants to push the US out of these lands. Bush claims that they want to push the US out so that they can first impose their tyranny on the Middle East and then ultimately on the whole world. Bush suggests that Al-Qaida and its leaders are on a par with the Nazis and Hitler in the sense that they are trying to control the whole world by imposing their tyrannical ideology on it. Bush suggests that the US is fighting a Hitler-like challenge and will bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East (and the whole world). There is a lot that can be said in criticism of Bush's view. But for now the following mentions only a couple of things.
A much different picture of the situation emerges if one reads what al-Qaida leaders say. Bin Laden and al-Zawahri, and others, almost always point to unjust and destructive US policies, which have, for instance, resulted in US crimes against Muslims, US support of Israel's oppression of Palestinians, and US theft of oil and resources. Also, there is no indication of al-Qaida's plan to impose their Muslim rule on the whole world. They focus on being allowed to govern themselves without outside interference.
Also, there is no indication that al-Qaida hates freedom. In fact they say that they love freedom. It is just that freedom for them means, in part, being able to live according to Islamic law, which is to live according to God's law. It is interesting to note that al-Zawahri discusses this issue of freedom in the tape, and these comments appear especially in the second Al-Jazeera news article given below. What is incredible is that there will likely be no discussion at all in the US media about this very interesting and important issue. In fact, it would almost a joke to suggest such a discussion. To discuss it would definitely go against the official doctrine that Bush promotes.
What one sees is that al-Qaida leaders are able and willing to think about and discuss important issues in a somewhat rational and realistic way -- which should be a virtue of democratic citizens. As a result, they end up making claims that deserve serious consideration and critical reflection. In contrast, US leaders (and media) seem entirely unable or unwilling to reach that level of critical discussion and understanding. One can make a safe guess that this is so in part because it is not in US interests (or rather US corporate interests) to do so, especially when you can impose your will on others by force.
The following are quotes, and some commentary from the latest al-Zawahri tapes as presented at Al-Jazeera in several different news articles. Lines separate the articles.
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Al-Jazeera news articles on the al-Zawahri tapes
Al-Qaida would continue to launch deadly attacks until US troops quit all Muslim countries.
"Blair's policies brought you destruction in central London and will bring you more destruction ... ," al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, said in a tape aired on Aljazeera.
Truce offer
"What you have seen in New York, Washington and Afghanistan, are only the initial losses and if you (United States) continue the same hostile policies you will see what will make you forget those horrors," he said in reference to the 11 September 2001 attacks.
Zawahri said the London bombs were a result of Blair's policies.
He said bin Laden had offered a truce to Western countries asking them to pull out their armies from Iraq and Afghanistan in order to live in peace.
"To the people of the crusader coalition ... our blessed Shaikh Osama has offered you a truce so that you leave Muslim land. As he said, you will not dream of security until we live it as a reality in Palestine, and until all your infidel armies leave Prophet Mohammad's lands," he said.
"Our message to you is clear, strong, and final: There will be no salvation until you withdraw from our land, stop stealing our oil and resources, and end support for corrupt rulers," al-Zawahri added.
Vietnam comparison
Zawahri, who in the footage appeared to be standing outside with an assault rifle at his side, also warned the Americans of horrors worse than the war in Vietnam.
"There will be no salvation until you withdraw from our land, stop stealing our oil and resources, and end support for corrupt rulers"
"The Americans... will see horror that would make them forget the horror they saw in Vietnam," he said.
"The truth that (President George) Bush ... hides from you is that there is an exit from Iraq except through immediate withdrawal. Any delay will mean only more dead and losses.
"If you do not leave today, you will inevitably leave tomorrow,
but only after (you suffer losses) of tens of thousands of dead and many more injured."
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Freedom
Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has condemned the American concept of freedom in a taped speech broadcast by Aljazeera.
Aired on Thursday, the audiotape message said the freedom sought by millions in the Islamic world was "not the freedom to destroy others ... it is not the freedom that allows [America] to support oppressive regimes".
Al-Zawahiri said he could not accept Washington's continued promotion of "Israel's freedom to annihilate Muslims".
The comments were first issued on 2 February on the internet, but were aired for the first time on Thursday.
Al-Zawahiri also slammed what he called "fraudulent elections held under occupation", in a reference to last month's polls in Iraq.
Details
Liberty as construed by the Americans, he said, was based on "usurious banks, giant companies, misleading media outlets and the destruction of others for material gain".
Real freedom was "not the liberty of homosexual marriages and the abuse of women as a commodity to gain clients, win deals or attract tourists," al-Zawahiri added.
"It is not the freedom of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib," it said, referring to US-run prisons in Cuba and Iraq where serious allegations of torture have been levelled.
"Our freedom ... and the reform that we are seeking depends on three concepts - the rule of Sharia [Islamic law] ... freeing Islam from any aggressor ... and liberating the human being."
No to occupation
In the Islamic world, the people had the "right to choose its leader, hold him to account and criticise him ... I do not think that we can achieve reform while we are under American and Jewish occupation."
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Aljazeera has aired excerpts of a new video from al-Qaida number two Ayman al-Zawahri in which he criticises the US concept of reform, as well as assaults on female protesters in Egypt last month.
Al-Zawahri's message is particularly critical of the Pakistani, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian governments.
"Driving out the invading crusader forces and Jews from our Muslim homes cannot be realised solely through demonstrations and speaking out in the streets," he said.
"Reform and expelling the invaders from Muslim countries cannot be accomplished except by fighting for the sake of God."
Al-Zawahri said any reform must be based on Islamic Sharia (law) and that Muslim countries should be free to govern themselves without foreign interference, or the presence of foreign troops.
"We cannot imagine any reform while our countries are occupied by crusader forces which are spreading throughout our land," he said.
Al-Zawahri referred to protest-demonstrations in Cairo last month against the Egyptian constitutional referendum in which female protesters and several female reporters were allegedly molested by plain-clothed ruling party supporters.
Reforms
"Driving out the invading crusader forces and Jews from our Muslim homes cannot be realised solely through demonstrations and speaking out in the streets."
Al-Zawahri, considered to be Osama bin Laden's second in command, criticised what he said were violations of women's rights during the Egyptian protests.
On the Palestinian issue, he cast doubt on the possibility of effecting change through peaceful demonstrations. He warned the Palestinians against what he called attempts to drag them into the election game in order to extract legitimacy for the Palestinian Authority.
In his previous tape - which Aljazeera aired on 20 February - al-Zawahiri warned the West it faced defeat in what he termed its new crusade against the Islamic world.
In that message, which he said was to mark the third anniversary of the internment of Muslims at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, al-Zawahri had hit out at US plans for reform in the Arab and Islamic world.
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Al-Qaida's number two has said governments cannot stop its attacks and that the West's security depends on respect for Islam and an end to aggression against Muslims.
Ayman al-Zawahri said in a videotape broadcast by Aljazeera on Sunday that the "new Crusader campaign" would end in defeat as others had in the past.
Al-Zawahri, wearing a white turban and seated with a machine gun next to him, said his comments came three years after the first prisoners were taken from Afghanistan to the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"If you Western nations believe that these cartoon governments will protect you from our responses, then you are deluded. Your real security lies in cooperating with the Islamic nation on the basis of respect and ending aggression," al-Zawahri said.
"Your new Crusader campaign will end, God willing, in defeat as did those that preceded it but after the deaths of tens of thousands, the destruction of your economy and exposing you in the pages of history," he added.
Democracy exposed
Al-Zawahri said US calls for democracy in the Middle East were a farce after allegations of abuse of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and in Guantanamo Bay, which holds hundreds of suspects detained during the 2001 US-led war to oust al-Qaida and the ruling Taliban from Afghanistan and in other operations.
"It has been three years since the first group of Muslim prisoners were sent to Guantanamo prison... One may ask why all this interest in Guantanamo when our countries are filled with a thousand Guantanamos under US observation," he said.
"It is because it exposes the truth of reform and democracy that America claims it aims to spread in our countries.
"The reform which emerges from US prisons like Bagram, Kandahar, Guanatanamo, Abu Ghraib, and from the launch of cluster bombs and rockets and the appointment of the likes of [Afghanistan's President Hamid] Karzai and [Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad] Allawi," he said.
The last videotape from al-Zawahri - aired in November - warned that al-Qaida would continue to attack the US until Washington changed its policies towards the Muslim world.
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Al-Qaida number two Ayman al-Zawahri has forecast a US defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a videotape aired on Aljazeera television.
"The American defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan has become just a question of time, God willing," he said in the tape telecast on Thursday.
"In the two countries, the Americans are between two fires: if they remain there they will bleed to death, and if they withdraw they will have lost everything."
The mujahidin are in a strong position in Afghanistan and have turned US plans in Iraq "head over heels", al-Zawahri said.
In Afghanistan, the mujahidin have driven US forces to "hide in their trenches", he said.
On the Darfur conflict, he said it was an example of US desire to split the Arab and Muslim world.
In the tape, shown two days before the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the US, he said: "East and south Afghanistan have become an open arena for the mujahidin. The enemy is limited to the capitals."
He added: "The Americans are hiding in their trenches and refuse to come out to face the mujahidin, as the mujahidin shell and fire on them, and cut roads off around them. Their defence is only to bomb by air, wasting US money as they kick up dust."
"The Americans are hiding in their trenches and refuse to come out to face the mujahidin."
Al-Zawahri was last heard in March when Aljazeera aired a recorded message in which he called on Pakistanis to overthrow the US-allied Pervez Musharraf government.
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Usama bin Ladin's right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahri has condemned French moves to ban the Muslim headscarf in government schools.
"This is a new sign of the Crusader hatred which Westerners harbour against Muslims while they boast of freedom, democracy and human rights," al-Zawahri said on the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television channel on Tuesday.
The French parliament this month voted to ban religious emblems in state schools, a measure Paris says will keep tensions between Muslim and Jewish minorities out of public classrooms, but which Muslims around the world have said targets Islam.
"France is the country of freedom which defends freedom to show the body, and to be immoral and depraved.
In France you're free to show yourself but not to dress modestly," said al-Zawahri, who is thought to be hiding, along with bin Ladin, somewhere in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"This is a campaign planned by the Crusader Zionists (Israel supporters) with their agents in Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia and other Islamic countries," al-Zawahri said, in an attack on Muslim countries which have made moves to secularise their societies along Western lines.
