MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

If a marriage of convenience means that Iran can still use Al Qaeda against arch-enemy Israel, they may overlook a bit of trouble in paradise …

By LARA JAKES – BAGHDAD (AP) — A spokesman for al-Qaida in Iraq said Friday that a Sunni Muslim war against Shiites in Iraq is inevitable and threatened relentless waves of attacks like the one a day earlier that killed at least 55 people.

The statement by Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, spokesman for the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq, tap into fears in Iraq and abroad about the country’s future stability and the government’s ability to protect its citizens following the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops in December.

Despite deadly assaults against the Shiite-led government’s security forces and Shiite pilgrims, there has been no indication that Iraq is returning to the sectarian bloodshed of 2006 and 2007 that pushed the nation to the brink of civil war. But Iraqis are increasingly frustrated with the government’s failure to prevent attacks that continue to kill scores of Iraqis every month.

In the latest attack, a series of bombings and shootings across the country on Thursday killed 55 and wounded more than 225. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In a 33-minute audio statement posted on an extremist website, al-Adnani warned of an impending ‘stage of real confrontation and war against the despicable (Shiites).’

‘The war of the Sunnis with the (Shiites) is a religious war, a holy war of faith,’ he said, according to a translation of the remarks provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks Islamist extremist messages. ‘There is no way out of it and there is no swerving from it.'” Read more.

A Match Made In Allah’s Valhalla: Sunni Al Qaeda’s Big Fat Shiite Iranian Wedding – “Last week, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described the relationship between Iran and al Qaeda as a ‘longstanding … marriage.’ But you had to listen carefully to hear him say that. ‘Iran has harbored al Qaeda leaders, facilitators,’ Clapper told a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. They have been ‘under house arrest conditions. [Iran’s rulers] have had this sort of standoff arrangement with al Qaeda, allowing [al-Qaeda] to exist [inside Iran], but not to foment any operations directly from Iran, because they’re very sensitive about, ‘Hey, we might come after them there as well.’… So there has been this longstanding, as I say, kind of, shotgun marriage, or marriage of convenience. I think, probably, the Iranians may think that they might use, perhaps, al Qaeda in the future as a surrogate or proxy.’” Read more.