Many argue that Iraq had nothing to do with terrorism, and that the invasion and our current efforts are therefore unjustified. I’ll ignore Saddam’s history of attacking and invading his neighbors for the moment and point out that Iraq is the epicenter of global terrorism at the moment – that according to Osama Bin Laden.
Just as the Iraqi parliament broke the political stalemate, Osama bin Laden released his latest speech. Walid Phares classifies bin Laden’s speech as the “State of Jihad.” Dr. Phares points out “the document provide guidelines and vision to the followers across the continents: A call for mega-terrorism and a fiery delivery of a bloody war in all directions. Not one single civilization and religion got away from Usama’s grapes of wrath: Muslim moderates, Shiites, Christian Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox; Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Atheists as well. Europeans, Chinese, Indians, Semites, Africans and others were all deciphered as Kuffars, infidels.”
Bin Laden himself says that defeat in Iraq is defeat for everyone he is against. That’s a long list indeed.
al-Qaeda, however, recognizes how a stable Iraq threatens the plan to establish a regional and ultimately global Islamist caliphate. Note how bin Laden fears the establishment of democratic institutions, media outlets and U.S. basing in the region. For these reasons, bin Laden calls Iraq the “epicentre of these wars” and Zawahiri calls it “the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era.”
A global Islamist caliphate, if successful, would mean no tolerance of Muslim moderates, Shiites, Christian Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox; Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Atheists, agonistics, Wiccans and many, many more. The seat of the fantasied caliphate, according to what I’m reading, would be in Baghdad.