“In a letter intercepted in January 2003 and later released by the CIA, [future al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi called the Shia ‘the lurking snake, the crafty and malicious scorpion, the spying enemy, and the penetrating venom.’ Quoting from [Kurdish Sunni scholar] Ibin Taymiyya, he warned: ‘Beware of the Shia, fight them, they lie.’ As a devout Sunni extremist, he felt that going after the Shia would be all too easy.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Bruce Riedel, The Search for Al Qaeda, Pages 99-100