Qaeda's Zawahri Appears in New Tape on Al Jazeera

By Andrew Hammond
DUBAI (Reuters) - Ayman al-Zawahri, the number two figure in al Qaeda, appeared in a new videotape aired on Al Jazeera on Thursday, ridiculing U.S. forces as stuck in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"In both countries, if they continue they will bleed to death and if they withdraw they lose everything," said Zawahri, the right-hand man of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"East and south Afghanistan have become an open arena for the Mujahideen (jihad fighters). The enemy are limited to their capitals," the Egyptian-born Zawahri said.

"The Americans are hiding in their trenches and refuse to come out to face the Mujahideen, as the Mujahideen shell and fire on them, and cut roads off around them. Their defense is only to bomb by air, wasting U.S. money as they kick up dust."

Zawahri, wearing a white turban with a machine gun at his side, spoke to camera for several minutes.

Turning to Iraq, where U.S. forces are fighting an insurgency against the U.S.-backed government, he said fighters had turned Washington's plans for the oil-rich country upside down.

"In Islamic Iraq the Mujahideen (jihad fighters) have turned America's plan head over heels. The defeat of America in Iraq and Afghanistan has become just a matter of time," he said.

*Any thoughts? Is this an accurate view, or just "spin" from Al Quaeda?