Iraq's al Qaeda group said on Sunday U.S. forces were doomed to failure in the country, after President George W. Bush called the conflict a vital test for American security, according to an Internet statement. "What test of a defeated army are you talking about? You have failed the test and tasted disaster in Iraq," the group led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said. "Who promised you victory, you loser?
"You and the Christians are destined for defeat, as you see every day and everywhere in Iraq," it said in a statement posted on a Web site used by Islamists.
Bush on Saturday rejected calls for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and tried to counter growing impatience with the war by calling it a "vital test" for American security. "This lying devil spoke the truth when he said we are the enemies of any rule other than of God and we will only accept His law," said al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq.
"We are the ones who are free, not you Westerners. We are free in our worship of God and in implementing His laws while you are slaves of earthly concerns, falsehoods and the devil."
Coming under renewed attack for his rationale for invading Iraq in March 2003, Bush described the conflict as part of the broader U.S. "war on terrorism". He said stabilising Iraq and quelling the insurgency were important for American interests.
Washington cites Zarqawi, who al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has declared as his deputy in Iraq, as evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein's ousted government and al Qaeda. |