To: michael97123 who wrote (275 ) 5/16/2007 9:56:06 AM From: Hawkmoon Read Replies (1) | Respond to Michael, I have alwasys considered myself a realist in FP. I believed the wmd story and i also could see the advantage for us if we could help establish a workable non totalitarina regime in iraq. engram-backtalk.blogspot.com My Plan B has as it essential component the defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq. No matter what else happens there, al Qaeda must lose, and they must be perceived as having lost. In that case, they will have forever torpedoed their reputation in the Muslim world (a reputation that is already in the toilet and can only be restored by a perceived victory over America in Iraq). And in the long term, that is what is important. We don't have to "win the hearts and minds" of the Muslim world (a truly dopey idea that holds no appeal whatsoever for me). Instead, terrorism in general and al Qaeda in particular need to lose the support of the Muslim world. Let them hate us. But now that the scourge of terrorism -- which they once admired -- has turned against Muslims in a horrific way in Iraq, let them hate al Qaeda even more. That's all we really need. Al-Qaeda has lost its most powerful friend in Iraq: Harith al-Dari, the country's most influential Sunni cleric and a prominent anti-American figure, has rejected al-Qaeda's vision of an Islamic state, telling TIME that Iraqis "will not accept such a system." In a sharp departure from his long-standing view of the terror group, al-Dari now says al-Qaeda has "gone too far." He also repudiates recent statements on Iraq by Osama bin Laden's deputy, saying: "Ayman al-Zawahiri doesn't represent Iraqis." jamestown.org time.com
