“In a [July 9] 2005 letter to al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi, bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al Zawahiri, noted that ‘more than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media.’ Zawahiri said that when it comes to attaining the caliphate…’the strongest weapon which the mujahedin enjoy, after the help and granting of success by God, is popular support from the Muslim masses in Iraq, and the surrounding Muslim countries.’ ”
– Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Bin Laden’s Legacy, Page 22