Excerpts: Intercepted Al Qaeda Document
Feb. 9, 2004 — -- Following are excerpts from a document seized from an al Qaeda courier on the Iran-Iraq border in January. U.S. officials believe the document was written by suspected al Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and intended for an al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan, Abdullah Khan. ABCNEWS' Martha Raddatz was shown the Arabic-language document and a translation provided by U.S. officials.
What is preventing us from making a general call to arms is the fact that the country of Iraq has no mountains, in which to seek refuge, or forest, in which to hide. Our presence is apparent, and our movement is out in the open. Eyes are everywhere....
There is no doubt that Americans' losses were significant because they are spread thin amongst the people and because it is easy to get weapons. This is a fact that makes them easy targets, attractive for the believers....
There is not doubt that our field or movement is shrinking and the grip around the throat of the Mujahedeen has begun to tighten. With the spread of the army and police, our future is becoming frightening....
We were involved in all the martyrdom operations — in terms of overseeing, preparing, and planning — that took place in this country except for the operations that took place in the North. Praise be to Allah. I have completed 25 of these operations, some of them against the Shi'a and their leaders, the Americans and their military, the police, the military, and the coalition forces. There will be more in the future, God willing....
Our enemy is growing stronger day after day, and its intelligence information increases....
Our situation demands that we treat the issue with courage and clarity. So the solution, and God only knows, is that we need to bring the Shi'a into the battle because it is the only way to prolong the duration of the fight between the infidels and us....
So I say again, the only solution is to strike the religious, military, and other cadres of the Shi'a so that they revolt against the Sunnis. … Souls will perish and blood will be spilled. This is however, exactly what we want, as there is nothing to win or lose in our situation. The Shi'a destroyed the balance, and the religion of God is worth more than lives....
The enemies are the Americans, police and army … As far as the Shi'a, we will undertake suicide operations and use car bombs to harm them....
The suggested time for execution: We are hoping that we will soon start working on creating squads and brigades of individuals who have experience and expertise. We have to get to the zero-hour in order to openly begin controlling the land by night and after that by day, god willing. The zero-hour needs to be at least four months before the new government gets in place.