Captured Al-Qaeda Document Reveals Egyptian Born Leader's Status

There has been a great deal of mystery surrounding Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Egyptian born successor, known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Upon his ascension to his former leader's position, he promised he would continue the same terror tactics that had been started by the Jordanian born terrorist, and at first attempted to act good on this by filming both beheadings and other brutal executions. However, it quickly became apparent that both the charisma and simple ferocity that were inherent in Zarqawi were simply not present in this new leader, and the same level of violence carried out before were simply not sustainable under the new leadership.

It has been suggested that the weakness of al-Masri is what helped directly lead to the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which took al-Qaeda in Iraq out of the "central focus" as the leading foreign militant group in the country.

All this mystery quickly brought about a variety of rumors as well. When the Sunni sheiks of the Anbar Province revolted against the ISI, among the first steps taken by the Awakening Councils, as they called themselves, was an attempt to prove their loyalty in claiming that they had killed al-Masri. This story had changed several times before finally being debunked by the American military, who stated that they simply don't know the status of the terrorist leader, who makes few videos and appears paranoid about revealing his location.

This is not entirely illogical, as a showboating video created by al-Zarqawi that showed his firing a gun off in the desert was, according to military sources, what led directly to his death in Baqouba.

Several questions appear to have been answered by the recent acquisition of a document by Coalition forces in a raid against al-Qaeda forces, which addresses the Egyptian born militant directly, appealing to him with a plan to shift the ISI's tactics.

The document was found on a terrorist killed in the raid, and was said to have been penned by one Abu Safyan, currently operating in Diyala. It calls on the ISI to focus on waging economic warfare against the Iraqi government in the hopes of crippling its ability to gain independence and autonomy, which would, in turn, make the government easier to take down in light of an American withdrawal from the nation.

"We must always leave the economy in psychological conflict," Abu Safyan wrote in a document that was given to Associated Content by the Multinational Force Iraq Central Command.

The letter went on to say, "They can never have stability so that they keep busy with themselves and not be able to unite against us." The letter clearly hints at the aggravation felt by the ISI following the unity of Sunni militants waging war against the foreign led terrorist faction. Specific targets highlighted include oil fields, pipelines, and power lines.

Although these have long been targets of terrorist attacks in the past, the letter implores upon al-Qaeda to redirect the brunt of its efforts there, perhaps recognizing that previous attempts at destabilizing the government have largely failed, and now require a more long term strategic solution.

For all this however, perhaps the most important aspect of the letter is the revelation that the terrorist leader is, indeed, still alive and still plays an integral role in leading Iraq's deadliest faction. Perhaps even more revealing is that this letter was directed to al-Masri himself, rather than the purported leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, whom the United States currently classifies as a fictional entity created to put a domestic face on a largely foreign led militant group.

Sources:

-Multinational Force: Iraq Central Command
-Major Brad Leighton
-Major General Kevin Bergner