Zawahiri not fond of Obama's Afghan strategy

CBS:

Al Qaeda's deputy commander, Ayman Zawahri, has issued another scathing attack on President Obama in a new audio tape released on jihadi Web sites.

Zawahri argues that the U.S. president is following the same policies as his predecessor, George W. Bush.

"America brought us a new face, trying to deceive us yet again. A face that calls for change, but it’s rather calling for us to change, to give up our faith and our rights,” says Zawahri, adding that Mr. Obama’s victory in the U.S. presidential election was an acknowledgement by the American people of, “the failure of the policies of Bush and his gang.”

Zawahri warned that Mr. Obama's "surge" of troops to Afghanistan will only make things worse. “What Obama is seeking to do by increasing the U.S. forces in Afghanistan and continuing to bomb Pakistan will only add more fuel to the fire and expose your soldiers to more killings and injuries."

"What Obama has claimed about negotiating with moderate Taliban is an illusion that he is fooling you or himself with,” added bin Laden's deputy.

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There is more Zawahiri rant in the story.

I think Zawahiri is right about negotiating with "moderate" Taliban. He is definitely wrong about the surge of forces into Afghanistan. That is bad for his side and not ours.

Zawahiri is also trying to deal with the Obama message, but time will take care of who is right on that point. In the end, the message will be irrelevant and the policy will determine who wins and loses. I tend to think at this point Obama has not sent enough troops which will mean teh war will last longer.

Danger Room notes a part of his rant that suggest concern about the US and Iran getting together. "The more you cooperate with Iran, the more hatred you will generate from Muslims."

An interesting comment for someone who wants to generate more hatred for the US by Muslims. I think what he is letting slip is his bigotry toward Shia Muslims is as great as his bigotry toward non Muslims.