Read about this letter from Al Zawahiri to Al Zarqawi:

Zawahiri also complains about Zarqawi's all-out war against the Shiites of Iraq, saying the Arab man in the street doesn't understand why suicide bombings are killing so many fellow Muslims.

The letter also indicates Zawahiri's life in hiding has left him cut off from news and financial support. He asks Zarqawi to provide him more information about operations in Iraq, saying he should know at least as much as the enemy knows, and he even asks Zarqawi to send money.

Well, maybe Zarqawi is losing Zawahiri's support, but he's still got Michael Moore and Ted Kennedy in his camp...

I have to say, though, I don't know what it is that CBS finds "chilling" about the letter.

Then read this (long but worthwhile) report from Mosul by Michael Yon, if you want to know who's winning, and who's losing, this war.

[Update on Friday morning]

Dan Darling has further thoughts.

I see two options here:
1) He's a raving loon.
2) Said letter/memo is a plant by the raving loon as a media bomb.

In either case, I did not see anything in the letter/memo worth giving two s**ts about.

Why CBS thought it "Chilling" is beyond me.

But then, I have never figured out why they still support Gunga Dan on memogate, so my thoughts on CBS should be taken with a grain of salt in any case. :D

Why CBS thought it "Chilling" is beyond me.

Maybe they're chilled to the bone at the idea their boy may lose?

I keep reading the headline as 'Please send lawyers, guns and money". Then the refrain from the song kicks in. Damn you, Rand.

Haven't read the memo, but I notice that CNN is reporting that it goes on to say that Al Queda has lost in Afghanistan, and has serious leadership shortage. What a shame for Al Queda.

Interesting oversight(?) in CBS coverage. Doesn't come as a real surprise.

You know, if he'd just leave us with a return address, we could send him a nice, ticking care package...

You know, if he'd just leave us with a return address, we could send him a nice, ticking care package...

Do JDAMMs tick?

How could there be a leadership shortage? Osama bin Laden is still running free, and so long as he is, presumably there is no leadership shortage.

The Left-blogosphere has long pooh-poohed the idea that killing seconds- and thirds-in-command has any meaning. Could it be that wiping out the lower echelons eventually isolates the top leadership?

Nahhh.

BTW, the word "chilling" was in quotes in the CBS release as well. Apparently, it came from some unnamed US government official.

Also, I echo Rand's recommendation to read Michael Yon's report. I have to wonder if part of the reason Al Zaqawi is still alive is because he does such a good job of undermining the Iraqi insurgency.

McGehee: Point taken. If you go that route, I'd be thinking less of a ticking, more of a soft whistling.

"chilling": Newsies can always find somebody to provide the quote they want...or at least one that they can quote our of context. That said, I agree with Paul Dietz that it's "chilling" because CBS prefers an American defeat to a Republican victory, and some at CBS prefer an American defeat unconditionally for much the same reasons that some of them supported the Sandinistas.