Geography the AQ way

Omar from Iraq The Model writes about the latest missive from Ayman al-Zawahiri and the nutty geography lesson contained within.

Al-Zawahiri, as usual, keeps the focus on Iraq. Clearly, AQ is targeting Iraq as the center of their new, party-all-the-time Caliphate, and this time al-Zawahiri is gobbing off about it's proximity to Israel as a big selling point.

Omar points out, as would anyone with access to a map, that Syria is quite a bit closer to Israel than Iraq is, and is actually in between the two. Further, Omar makes two additional points:

1. Syria shares a bit of border with Israel (in fact, Israel has occupied Syrian territory - the Golan Heights - since they took it in 1967's Six Day War).

2. Syria's giraffe-necked "President", Bashar al-Assad, is supposedly an ally of AQ.

Given all of this, wouldn't you expect Syria to be the spot to launch the Emirate? Wouldn't it be, like, more cost effective than fighting the US, the Shiites, the Kurds, and who-knows-who-else for Iraq?

Hmm, maybe Syria isn't quite as in-the-pocket as AQ and Iran might like? Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but wouldn't you LOVE to be a fly on the wall when Condi Rice uses her anonymous Wal-Mart calling card to ring a payphone next to the falafel stand on Hafez Blvd in Damascus, where a long-necked, big-eared dude in a fake Bedouin robe and Groucho glasses waits to answer?

I would!