ZARQAWI: BINLADEN ORDERED ATTACK ON ISRAEL

I predicted this on September 25, 2005. Now Zarqawi has PERSONALLY confirmed it (AFP):

AL-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said in an audio tape put onto the internet yesterday that rockets had been fired at Israel from Lebanon last month "on the instructions" of the network's overall chief Osama bin Laden.

"The rocket firing at the ancestors of monkeys and pigs from the south of Lebanon was only the start of a blessed in-depth strike against the Zionist enemy (...). All that was on the instructions of the sheikh of the mujahedeen, Osama bin laden, may God preserve him," said the voice attributed to the Jordanian extremist. His group, the Organization of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, had claimed responsibility for the rockets in an on-line statement on December 29.

"This commendable feat came in application by the mujahedeen of the oath by fighter sheikh Osama bin Laden, emir of the al-Qaeda network, may God preserve him," added the recording referring to repeated statements by Bin Laden that the Israelis should not enjoy security as long as Muslims were not safe.

I'm particularly concerned about the phrase, "only the start of a blessed in-depth strike against the Zionist enemy." I think that Zarqawi chooses his words carefully. He strikes me as the kind of psychopath who would enjoy giving clues - like all those incredibly over-the-top villains in Bond movies. Only thing is: Zarqawi is real.

*****UPDATE 1/9/06: ALARMING NEWS (hat tip ACE):

This doesn't sound good

Via Bridge and Tunnel Club:
A suitcase found Thursday morning in Brooklyn -- chock-full of photos of Big Apple landmarks and subway stations -- provoked a massive mobilization of antiterror units when it was finally opened two days later, police said. "The pictures had everything -- from Police Plaza to 26 Federal Plaza. It was scary," said Derwin McDuffie, 40, a security guard at Linden Plaza, where the bag was found. "The weird thing is if a tourist took those pictures, there would be people in them. There was nobody in these." ... Meanwhile, a man who went to pick it up Friday vanished when told it had been taken to Lost and Found, said McDuffie, who didn't see the man.

RELIAPUNDIT: Maybe - JUST MAYBE - Zarqawi meant "MAJOR NYC SUBWAY ATTACK (like London 7/7 - only BIGGER)" when he said, "in depth strike against the Zionist enemy."