Al Qaeda threatens more corporal punishment for UK

Telegraph:

Osama bin Laden’s second in command has issued a warning that Britain faces fresh terror attacks as a "punishment" for the knighthood bestowed on Salman Rushdie.

The threat - addressed directly to Gordon Brown - came in a 20-minute audio-tape posted on jihadi websites by Ayman al-Zawahiri.

He threatened "a very precise response" in retaliation against Britain for having knighted the controversial novelist in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last month.

Intelligence agencies are tonight checking the authenticity of the tape, picked up by the American-based SITE group, which monitors al-Qa’eda messages.

According to SITE, it was produced by as-Sahab, the multimedia wing of al-Qa’eda, to be distributed to extremist web sites.

The speech, entitled "Malicious Britain and its Indian Slaves", railed against the UK for having awarded a knighthood to Rushdie.

It came the day after four terrorists were convicted of the July 21 plot to launch suicide attacks on the London transport system and on the same day that the jury failed to reach a verdict on two others alleged to be part of their cell.

Al-Zawahiri, who is de facto leader of the group since Osama bin Laden has not been heard of for years, said it insulted Islam to reward the author of "The Satanic Verses".

He addressed Mr Brown directly as prime minister, and also appeared to refer to the failed car bomb attacks in London 10 days ago.

"I say to Blair’s successor that the policy of your predecessor drew catastrophes in Afghanistan and Iraq and even in the centre of London," he said.

The tape added: "And if you did not understand, listen, we are ready to repeat it for you, God willing, until we are sure you have fully understood."

More prosaically, he also called for a boycott of British goods.

...

A boycott by al Qaeda is not a scary thing. However, the reason for making this post is his use of the word punishment to describe actions intended for the UK because they honored someone who dishonored the weird religious beliefs of al Qaeda. I have often pointed out how al Qaeda strategy and tactics are tied to Shari'a. The barbaric code that al Qaeda and other Islamist want imposed on the world uses corporal punishment to insure compliance including whippings stoning and dismemberment. Allah in the eyes of al Qaeda is too weak to handle punishing people who dis him and it is up to al Qaeda to do it for him.

It is the very belief that they are an instrument of God in punishing those who dis their beliefs that make the reaction of the political correct liberals so irrational. Liberals tend to believe that we are fighting rational people on the other side that can be reasoned with. The guys on the other side believe that if they agree with anything proposed by us they will lose their ticket to Paradise and whatever awaits them there. That is a pretty strong disincentive to agree to anything.

The only way to stop al Qaeda is to destroy it where ever it is found. That is why the democrats' cut and run policy in Iraq is so misguided.