Osama bin Laden's growing anxiety
He's struggling to direct fewer and fewer followers.
By Fawaz A. Gergesfrom the October 26, 2007 edition
Page 1 of 2
Bronxville, N.Y. - In yet another sign of trouble for Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden publicly conceded that his like-minded militants in Iraq "made mistakes." In an audiotape broadcast by Al Jazeera this week, he sounds deeply anxious about the survival of Al Qaeda in Iraq – a group that is largely independent of his own organization but adheres to a similar ideology. Al Qaeda's top leader appealed to Sunni Arab tribes and other armed Iraqi Sunni groups to stop fighting Al Qaeda members and unite against the real enemy – the US-led coalition.
Al Qaeda in Iraq faces growing indignation from fellow Sunni Iraqis fed up with its indiscriminate killing of civilians and its Taliban-like religious laws. In the past year, Sunni tribes and fighters have risen against Al Qaeda's branch in Iraq and, working jointly with US troops, killed and expelled scores of its militants from their neighborhoods, particularly from Anbar Province. Besieged both internally and externally, Al Qaeda in Iraq struggles to survive and absorb these catastrophic military setbacks.
Coming to the rescue of his followers in Iraq, Mr. bin Laden lays his personal authority and credibility on the line. In a rare moment of self-criticism, he advises "himself, Muslims in general, and brothers in Al Qaeda everywhere to avoid extremism" and put the interests of the ummah (universal Muslim community) above those of tribe, party, and nation.
True to form, bin Laden stops short of saying exactly who speaks for the ummah and how the interests of this imagined ummah can override those of separate nation states and special groups.
Never before had bin Laden, ambitious and media-savvy, gone so far in airing Al Qaeda's dirty linen in public. In the past, he and his second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had privately advised chiefs of Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq against fueling sectarian war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and imposing their extremist ways on Iraqis. But their pleas didn't fly.
In his latest "message to the people of Iraq," bin Laden's misgivings reflect the gravity of Al Qaeda's crisis in Iraq and a belated effort to win over Sunni Arabs opposed to the militant organization. Stressing unity over the current division and disarray, he urged Sunni tribes to uphold their "tradition of resisting" foreign occupation like that of British colonialists in the last century.
Bin Laden even invoked the prophet Muhammad to drive home his message of unity and forgiveness: "The prophet peace be upon him said once: no one is perfect. We all make mistakes and we should seek forgiveness of these mistakes. Human beings commit wrongs, and wrongs always lead to conflict and dispute. Having acknowledged that we have made mistakes ... [w]e can now seek to rectify these mistakes."
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