Juan Cole .... bush lying about al Qaeda in Iraq

[Botany]

http://www.juancole.com/2007/07/bush-falsehoods-about-al-qaeda-in-iraq.html


<Bush gave a speech on Tuesday in which he made a large number inaccurate statements. Likely the
recent Pentagon and White House practice of referring to all "insurgents" in Iraq as "al-Qaeda" was
intended to lead up to this speech.

Bush maintained in his speech that the members of "al-Qaeda in Iraq" have pledged fealty (bay'at) to
Usama Bin Laden. There is no evidence for this allegation. The foreign fighters who make up "al-Qaeda
in Mesopotamia" are successors to previously-existing radical Muslim groups such as Ansar al-Islam
and Monotheism and Holy War, both of which had distinct identities from al-Qaeda. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
even at one point forbade members of Monotheism and Holy War to give money to al-Qaeda. It is unlikely
that they have all swung around behind Bin Laden, though some among the Saudi volunteers may have. As
far back as 2005, Ansar al-Sunnah clearly feared the influence of Bin Laden and asked foreign volunteers to
stop coming.>