Can I hear an "Amen!", Brother Zawahiri?

From CNN:

Al Qaeda in Iraq said Thursday a letter purportedly from Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a fake, according to a statement on several Islamist Web sites.
...
Responding to al Qaeda in Iraq's denial, a spokesman for the U.S. director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, said top officials in the U.S. government are confident the letter is real.

The spokesman said the letter was "verified by multiple sources over an extended period of time."

Yeah. That's the same lie they told about Iraq's alleged WMD's.

CNN was making a big deal of this almost certainly phoney letter a few days ago. Look at the synopsis from Negroponte's office:

Among the letter's highlights are discussions indicating:

* The centrality of the war in Iraq for the global jihad.

* From al Qa'ida's point of view, the war does not end with an American departure.

* An acknowledgment of the appeal of democracy to the Iraqis.

* The strategic vision of inevitable conflict, with a tacit recognition of current political dynamics in Iraq; with a call by al-Zawahiri for political action equal to military action.

* The need to maintain popular support at least until jihadist rule has been established.

* Admission that more than half the struggle is taking place "in the battlefield of the media."

Exceeding convenient, to say the least. Consider some of the BS aWol was saying last week at the National Endowment for Democracy:

• "The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity. And we must recognize Iraq as the central front in our war on terror."
• "Some observers also claim that America would be better off by cutting our losses and leaving Iraq now. This is a dangerous illusion."
• "Some observers question the durability of democracy in Iraq. They underestimate the power and appeal of freedom."
• "By any standard or precedent of history, Iraq has made incredible political progress -- from tyranny, to liberation, to national elections, to the writing of a constitution, in the space of two-and-a-half years."

Amazing how it matches point for point! Zawahiri's alleged letter was supposedly sent July 9, but Negroponte, a scumbag liar going WAY back, releases the translation of the letter on October 11, just days after Bush gave his NED speech claiming the exact same crap.