CAIRO (AP) — A U.S.-born, al-Qaida-linked cleric warned the American people that President Barack Obama will mire U.S. forces in Yemen just as Afghanistan, in a message appearing Monday on militant websites.
The 13-minute audio message, in English, comes just days after the U.S. Treasury department put Anwar al-Awlaki on its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
“If George W. Bush is remembered as being the president who got America stuck in Afghanistan and Iraq, it’s looking like Obama wants to be remembered as the president who got America stuck in Yemen,” he said.
Separately, al-Qaida’s deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri vowed that the American troops would leave both Afghanistan and Iraq in “defeat.”
U.S officials worry al-Qaida’s offshoot in Yemen has found refuge in the country’s remote, lawless areas and could be plotting attacks against American and other Western targets. Critics, meanwhile, have warned that imposing a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq could provide the terror network a propaganda tool.
Full story: News From The Associated Press