Al-Zawahri Seeeks to Topple Syria

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 8, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                         

       Urging his holy warriors to continue their battle against Bashar al-Assad’s “secular” state of Syria, 61-year-old al-Qaeda No. 1 Ayman al-Zawahri gave the U.S. State Department the right policy on Iraq.  With conservatives like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and liberals like former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urging toppling al-Assad, al-Zawahri gave the ultimate reason to do the opposite.  Like his predecessor Osama bin Laden, al-Zawhri seeks a new Islamic order in the holy lands around the Middle East, replacing all secular dictatorships and monarchies with one Islamic state.  Knowing that al-Zawahri backs overthrowing al-Assad should send a loud signal to the White House to change its current policy.  Ranting in a 103-minute audiotape, al-Zawahri called on his mujaheeden “holy warriors” to liberate Muslim lands from the plundering by foreign occupiers.

             Running an international terror organization hasn’t been easy for al-Zawahir since Bin Laden’s Death May 1, 2011.  Warning France that it faces defeat in Mali, al-Zawahri continues the illusion that al-Qaeda is anything but a loosely knit group of criminal mercenaries.  “I warn France that it will meet in Mali, with God’s permission, the same fate Americans met in Iraq and Afghanistan,” al-Zawahri said in his latest propaganda missive.  Living on the lam, al-Zawahri can’t see the light of day or face almost certain death hunted by the long arm of American justice.  Like Bin Laden, the former Muslim Brotherhood fugitive al-Zawahri no longer commands any real influence, except in revolutionary spots like Syria, where his ragtag band of mercenaries fight along side other insurgent groups, like Palestinians, hoping to find a new safe haven for his roving band of outlaw fighters.

             Joining the fight against al-Assad’s Syria is precisely why Russia and China oppose any attempt to topple al-Assad Baathist regime.  With already so much chaos caused by the Arab Spring, destabilizing governments in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, another downed regime would only add to the region’s instability.  Urging his holy warriors to continue fighting the U.S., al-Zawahri cant deal with crosscurrents inside the U.S. that support toppling al-Assad.  Whatever collateral damage occurs in Syria preserving al-Assad’s power, it pales in comparison to anarchy and violence that would follow from an al-Qaeda takeover.  “[They] want to steal your sacrifices and your jihad to give them to their supporters in Washington, Moscow and Tel Aviv,” said al-Zawahri, warning his mujahedeen fighters to not settle for anything short of establishing a new Taliban-like state in Syria.

             Showing fratricidal hatred toward Muslims, al-Zawahri made sure only his Wahhabi-brand of Islam was tolerable in Syria.  Al-Zawahri knows that al-Assad represents a small sect of Shiite Islam knows as the Alawites.  Lashing out at Iran and its client Shiite group know as Hezbollah [Party of God] in Lebanon, al-Zawahri reveals al-Qaeda’s known intolerance for any Muslim group other than Wahhabi Sunni Islam.  “The true faces of Iran and Hezbollah have bee exposed, and their ugly reality has appeared in the field of holy war in Syria,” said al-Zawahri.  While few people take al-Zawahri or al-Qaeda seriously anymore, the fact that they’ve joined the revolution against al-Assad speaks volumes.  White House officials can condemn al-Assad’s violence against civilians without joining al-Qaeda or other radical groups’ attempts to pick off another Medeast state for radical Islam.

             Sparing no one, al-Zawahri condemned Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s new government.  Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood-backed government has been on a razor’s edge of more revolution insisting on stricter Islam rule.  Al-Zawahri said in Morsi’s government “the rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer. Have the Islamic movements provided better education, heal or transportation?”  Showing he learned well from Bin Laden, al-Zawahri continues his pernicious propaganda designed to foment Islamic revolution wherever there’s discontent.  There’s no shortage of disenfranchised Arabs, desperate and willing to join al-Qaeda as long as they’re given an AK-47, food and shelter.  Whatever al-Zawahri’s motives, the U.S., U.K. and EU should not fall into the trap of toppling al-Assad, no matter how egregious his methods of setting down the insurgent revolt.

             Greatly diminished by relentless CIA predator drone attacks, al-Qaeda no longer has the same clout when Bin Laden ran the show.  Lacking Bin Laden’s charisma and popular appeal, al-Zawahri commands what’s left of the mercenary band of Arab extremists.  Joining forces against al-Assad, al-Qaeda proves that its Wahhahi band of mercenaries have no regard for unifying Islam, only continuing the sectarian strife that pits Sunnis against Shiites.  Whether or not Syria is ruled by al-Assad’s small Shiite minority, al-Zawahri said it best railing against its “criminal secular” state.  Like the Taliban’s fight in Afhganistan,.al-Zawahri continues to fight for Bin Laden’s sick vision of a worldwide Islamic state.  Knowing that al-Qaeda backs toppling al-Assad’s regime, the White House should rethink its policy and join Russia, China—and even Iran—in backing the Syrian government.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.