Iraqi al-Qaida Leader Declares Victory

March 18, 2009

Associated Press

CAIRO - The U.S. is admitting defeat in Iraq with its withdrawal plan, said the purported leader of an al-Qaida-dominated insurgent umbrella group in Iraq in a message released Tuesday.

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq, issued a 17-minute audio statement to militant Web sites, saying his plan of attack has been successful in forcing the U.S. to leave Iraq.

"This plan culminated in the announcement of the black of Washington of the scheduled withdrawal and its tactic of recognition of defeat," he said, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi sites.

In the audio, al-Baghdadi also used a racist slur to describe President Barack Obama and said that the American people were being fooled by their president with his talk of withdrawal, as it was just a cover for further occupation.

"What the ruler of the occupation state announced is but a deception for the imperialist method, in a new fashion, hoping that the silly and stupid will accept the occupation of our land and humiliation of our dignity for another three years to come," he said.

He went on to criticize the Iraqi provincial elections held in January as being rigged and described the government as illegitimate.

The U.S. military says al-Baghdadi is a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign al-Qaida fighters.

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