Al-Qaeda in Iraq Threatens Sweden (CM)

Abu Omar al Baghdadi has offered a reward of $100,000 for the assassination of Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks for drawing a picture of a dog with Mohammed’s head on it.  He also has offered $50,000 for the assassination of the editor of the newspaper that published the cartoon.

Can we now, finally, dismiss the notion that al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has nothing to do with the global al-Qaeda movement and would not be a problem is American troops would just “redeploy” out of Iraq? Also can we recall that AQI was responsible for the hotel bombings in Jordan in November 2005 and, according to British intelligence, was behind the recent failed attacks against London and Glasgow?

And it would be nice if anyone in the MSM could bother to note that the most recent National Intelligence Estimate calls AQI the “most visible and capable [al-Qaeda] affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack the [U.S] Homeland.”

Fred Kagan at AEI informs me that Abu Omar al Baghdadi is just a nom de guerre, or perhaps even a fictitious personage created by AQI to conceal the foreignness of their leadership. In reality, the head of AQI is Abu Ayyub al Masri, an Egyptian.

One more thing: Do you recall the Osama bin Laden tape in October 2004, the one in which he rebutted Bush’s claim that AQ hates freedom by saying: “Let him tell us why we did not strike Sweden, for example?”

Perhaps this suggests that al-Qaeda in Iraq is actually more belligerent than al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

ABC coverage is here.

Comments

[Muslims Against Sharia]

Muslims Against Sharia praise the courage of Lars Vilks, Ulf Johansson, Thorbjorn Larsson and the staff of Nerikes Allehanda and Dagens Nyheter and condemn threats issued by Abu Omar Al Baghdadi and the Islamic State of Iraq. Muslims Against Sharia will provide a payment of 100,000kr (about $15,000) for the information leading to capture or neutralization of Abu Omar Al Baghdadi.

Muslimer mot Sharia berömmer Lars Vilks, Ulf Johansson, Torbjörn Larsson och övriga anställda på Nerikes Allehanda och Dagens Nyheter för deras tapperhet och fördömer hotet från Abu Omar Al Baghdadi och Islamistiska Iraq. Muslimer mot Sharia betalar 100 000 SEK (ca 15 000$) för information som leder till gripande eller oskadligörande av Abu Omar Al Baghdadi.

http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/2007/09/swedish-cartoons.html
Muslims Against Sharia

http://www.reformislam.org/dfs.php
Defend Freedom of Speech - Support Sweden!

[Multiple Income Streams]

Excellent article and commentary!