Just woke up and started my morning spin on the blogosphere and within minutes came across this article on CNN.
* Al Qaeda's No. 2 complains about money, Iraq tactics
An intercepted letter from Osama bin Laden's deputy to the al Qaeda leader in Iraq complains that the terrorist network is short of cash and faces defeat in Afghanistan, a Pentagon spokesman says.
The United States obtained a recent letter that appears to be from Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 figure, to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, outlining both the strategy and concerns of the terrorist network, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.
In the letter, al-Zawahiri warns that some of the tactics currently employed by the insurgency, including the slaughtering of hostages and the suicide bombings of Muslim civilians, may risk alienating the "Muslim masses," Whitman said Thursday.
Reading from a summary of the letter, Whitman said al-Zawahiri concedes that al Qaeda has lost many key leaders, is resigned to defeat in Afghanistan, and that its lines of communication and funding sources have been seriously disrupted. Al-Zawahiri includes a plea for financial support, indicating he is strapped for money, Whitman said.
To be clear, this #2 is al-Zawahiri. Now, I know he's always on the run and he's always just out of our grip. But come on now - is he really #2? Perhaps he's Al-Qaida #2 and 5/8? Or even #2.3333, with a repeating decimal.
All these al-Zawahiri's and al-Zarqawi keep confusing me. But I guess that's the point, isn't it? We throw some names in, intercept some "communications," and make them look pretty desperate with "alienate Muslim masses," and "funding problems."
But still...it's the #2 Al-Qaida guy. Or is that the #2 Iraq al-Qaida guy.
Oh...damnit! I just bit my tongue cuz it got all curled up again in my brain.