On July 9, 2005, al Qaeda second-in-command “Ayman al-Zawahiri described his concept of a post-9/11 base area in a letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq: ‘Establish an Islamic authority or emirate, then develop it and support it until it achieves the level of a caliphate over as much territory as you can to spread its power such as in Iraq.’ “
– Ahmed Rashid, Descent Into Chaos, Page 278