Bin Laden lambastes Iraqi insurgents

Writing on the counterterrorism.org blog, Walid Phares argues that bin Laden's latest rhetoric reflects a loss of control of events in Iraq.

Today's audio … was dedicated to whip the chaotic commanders of Jihad in Iraq. Usama's message was more so the expression of a frustrated (self appointed) "Caliph" trying to reign in on his emirs gone wild in the deserts of Middle Earth. The "Lord" is upset with how al Qaeda Iraq has administered the struggle, the people and the image.

… In fact he criticized the "emirs" for the recklessness of their Jihad in the land of the two rivers. If one reviews the public statements of Bin Laden, at least since 1996, this would be the first time he would talk about the Jihadists' mistakes, not the errors by Muslim rulers in general: Now these are his own fighters who are at fault.

At the end of the day, this tape show -as I have argued since last summer- that al Qaeda central feels that their strategic initiative in Iraq is lagging behind. Two things went wrong for al Qaeda: One was the misbehavior of its own barons on the ground, and two -one can see it clearer now- the (US led) surge has worked so far

George Washington University political scientist Marc Lynch on his blog, abuaardrvark.com, says there are growing indications that Iraqi Sunni Arab leaders are pulling Sunni insurgents and politicians away from Al Qaeda and closer to a more mainstream political process.

The al-Haq News Agency reported over the weekend that Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party had issued a statement welcoming the formation of the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance.

If this is an authentic statement (and I haven't seen it denied) it would be significant because it would mean that Hashemi - the highest ranking Sunni in Maliki's government ... is attempting to bring the "nationalist-jihadist" factions of the Sunni insurgency directly in to the political arena.

The Political Council of the Iraqi Resistance seems to represent the most ambitious effort to date by the major factions of the Sunni insurgency to present a public political face and outline a political agenda. It includes, among others, the Jihad and Reform Front (a coalition led by the large nationalist-jihadist Islamic Army of Iraq) and Hamas Iraq (a Muslim Brotherhood-linked faction which split from the 1920 Revolution Brigade last fall) … Other Sunni factions remain wary, al-Qaeda in Iraq has been scathingly critical ...

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