My apologies for yesterday’s quiz hint.
It was intended to aid identification of al-Qaeda’s 2IC as the answer, but Ayman al-Zawahri was not the only person to say on Thursday that we’ve been defeated in Iraq or that a slow withdrawal is faking victory.
Except that he wasn’t “fondling an AK-47” (a reference I had considered facetious), Rep. John Murtha would also be a correct answer to yesterday’s quiz. On Thursday he had this to say at a town meeting in Arlington, Virginia:
“A year ago, I said we can’t win this militarily, and I got all kinds of criticism.” Now, Murtha told the strongly antiwar audience, “I worry about a slow withdrawal which makes it look like there’s a victory when I think it should be a redeployment as quickly as possible and let the Iraqis handle the whole thing.”
There’s more here:
Murtha Fears a Withdrawal that “Makes It Look Like There’s a Victory”,by Byron York
I should have asked a second question: “Who is Ayman al-Zawahri’s mentor?” for additional credit. That would have had 4 right answers if you assume al-Zawahri cannot be his own mentor, but “B) Rep. John Murtha” would be the preferred answer because he made an identical statement in a 24 hour period. 1.5 points.
Lifetime achievement considerations would dictate Noam Chomsky get second place. 1.25 points.
Howard Dean and Ted Kennedy are tied in the “major bodily organ damage” disability category. No extra points.
There is more of interest about the town meeting. Michelle Malkin has video of Sgt. Mark Seavey challenging Murtha and fellow-traveller Rep. Jim Moran there.
OooRah, Sergeant!