While much of the reporting around Osama bin Laden's most recent audiotape focused around the failure of leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq and the problems with cooperation between Sunni insurgent groups and tribes, a small but important detail slipped by the press. Bin Laden clearly addresses a tactical failure of al Qaeda in Iraq's IED cells. Bin Laden is unhappy with their performance, and indicated the failure to employ IEDs efficiently against U.S. forces is due to "negligence." He is also concerned about the infiltration of Iraqi and American spies.
From an excerpt of the SITE Institute translation which is not available online:
And I tell my brothers: beware of your enemies, especially the hypocrites who infiltrate your ranks to stir up strife among the Mujahid groups, and refer such people to the judiciary. And you must check and verify, and avert the Hudood [punishments] through doubts. You must protect your secrets and excel in your actions, for among the things which sadden the Muslims and the delight the unbelievers is the hindering of some combat operations against the enemy because of negligence in any of the stages of preparation for the operation, whether it be reconnaissance of the target, training, integrity, and suitability of weapons and ammunition, quality of the explosive device or other such arrangements. And when you lay a mine, do it right, and don't leave so much as one wounded American soldier or spy.
Osama bin Laden is often portrayed as a spiritual leader and figurehead detached from day-to-day operations, but this recent speech merely reinforces what we already know about him. An engineer by training, bin Laden is very interested in the planning and execution of attacks and operations. The 9/11 Commission Report stated bin Laden was personally involved in reviewing the operational attack plans for the embassy bombings, the Cole, and 9/11. He immerses himself in the technical details and the tactics used by his operators, and keeps apprised of the situation on the battlefields. In Anbar province, al Qaeda in Iraq has failed to kill a single U.S. servicemen by IED since September 10. It seems bin Laden is acutely aware of this.
