Elonka wrote:

Mike the Usurper wrote:

Elonka wrote:

Mike the Usurper wrote:

Elonka wrote:
The 7/2005 letter from al-Zawahiri (Osama bin Laden's #2 in Al Qaeda), to Zarqawi, the head of al Qaeda in Iraq. Amongst the religious rhetoric, it lays out goals, strategy, and suggestions for PR (like "slaughtering hostages in public is probably not going to bring the public to your side").

Interesting reading.

It's now being called fake.

Oh and by *such* a credible source, too. ;)

Why are they any less credible than the White House?

Haven't we already had this discussion, about the difference between Al Qaeda and the U.S. Government? Oversight, checks and balances, public debate, etc.? The White House has multiple corroborating sources (such as the Pentagon and the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence), and if any one of them showed up as dubious, many news sites would be all over it. The purported Iraqi Al Qaeda site may well just be one guy with access to the net. It's not authenticated by anybody.

Actually, that was a completely different discussion of the relative evils of the two groups. This relates to the veracity of claims made by each side, and on that front, I think Al Qaeda has been much more truthful when it comes to claims of things they have or have not said/done. Have they exagerated and inflated their claims? Yes, they do that to make things sound better for them, but I have yet to see a case where they say they have or have not done something that has not been basically factual. Do they not tell the whole truth? Yes, but that is a far cry from outright falsehood.

If you would like to find cases where at core they have lied about their claims, I will reconsider that, but there are so many cases where the White House has made claims that have no bearing in reality (anything said by Karl Rove, the Niger yellowcake document, yesterday's staged Q&A, "Mission Accomplished," we'll be greeted as liberators, I have a list of at least 10 foiled plots, etc.) that I am more prepared to accept Al Qaeda saying this was not sent by them, than I am to accept the White House saying it is.

And since Al Qaeda in Iraq saying it's a fake isn't enough, here's a second set of people questioning its authenticity

RE: Letter from Zawahari to Zarqawi