Zawahiri to Zarqawi: Life In The Cave Sucks

Security Watchtower reports that a 13 page report from Zawahiri to Zarqawi, written sometime after the July London bombings, was intercepted by the US. Details are still sketchy, but Zawahiri calls Iraq, "the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era."

After admonishing Zarqawi for headchopping and blowing children giving their cause a bad reputation, he also complains about the difficulty of getting money and information while on the run and requests Zarqawi to send him info on the status of Iraq and some money.

Frankly, I'm sure the rest of the memo will be very interesting, but the fact that we captured the memo at all is extremely important, as well as the information this last request gives us. Where Zawahiri is, there is little access to news, this means, unlike bin Laden, who has appeared in separate videos without Zawahiri, Zawahiri is most likely in the Waziristan area of Pakistan or other extremely remote area where satellite dishes are not common, neither are newspapers or radio. Further, neither are their many banks or businesses where he can access other accounts or receive transfers via the halwa system (arab/muslim system of transfering money via regular businesses without interest or other large fees like banks or western union).

Lastly, the fact that he had the time and inclination to write a 13 page memo means that he did not feel under any pressure. He is either extremely confident he can avoid capture or he knows for a fact that we are no where near him. Considering we captured this memo, I'd say we have a finger on the communication line. Or, had one. For this memo to come out from our own government, it means that it's very likely all intel that could be immediately exploited has been and may account for the announcement that Hakim, the Taliban communications officer, was recently arrested.

I really don't think that the American public has any idea how important it is that we intercepted this direct communication or picked up Hakim (that was the Pakistani ISI, but I guarantee it was with some sort of inter-intel assetts). It literally means that we have more than just "luck" at nabbing these guys, but actually have assetts on the ground and excellent networks able to follow up on leads quickly and exploit them.

This is no mean feat. I'm not sure if this is military or civilian intelligence at work here or even a cooperative, but, for all malignment of these services, they appear to have something going on.

Update: Via ITM Zarqawi Responds to Zawahiri: Buzz Off, I Know What I'm Doing.