Billmon: The Enemy of My Enemy

Juan Cole has noticed something odd about the communique from the alleged perpetrators of the London bombing, Qaida al-Jihad in Europe: It includes a not-so-veiled appeal to Arab nationalism as well as to Islamic fundamentalism.

This may be nothing more than a blunder by a gang of Bin Ladin wannabes who know a hell of a lot more about killing innocent people with explosives than they do about the theology of the movement they claim to represent. But it could also be a sign that the tactical alliance between secular nationalists and religious fanatics formed to fight the Americans in Iraq is now being mirrored elsewhere – or, alternatively, that the jihadis now operating under the Al Qaeda brand hope to mirror it elsewhere, even if it means abandoning the doctrinal purity of the movement's founders.