A letter from al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al Zawahiri to an associate of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi, dated July 9, 2005, was intercepted by U.S. forces in Iraq. In it, Zawahiri stated: ” ‘Among the things which the feelings of the Muslim populace who love and support you will never find palatable are the scenes of slaughtering the hostages. You shouldn’t be deceived by the praise of some of the zealous young men and their description of you as the sheik of the slaughterers, etc. I say to you that we are in a battle, and that more than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media.’ ”
– Peter Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I Know, Page 367