“During 2005, alarmed by the course of events, [al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-] Zawahiri sent a letter to [al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi urging him to show restraint. In December of that year, when Zarqawi failed to heed such calls, [senior al Qaeda member Atiyah Abd al-] Rahman sent a much more forceful letter warning Zarqawi that he was at risk of destroying the al Qaeda brand. ‘Know that we like all mujahiddin, are still weak,’ he wrote, ‘we have not yet reached a level of stability. We have no alternative but not to squander any element of the foundations of strength or any helper or supporter.’ “ [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Paul Cruickshank, “Bin Laden’s Key Deputy Seen as Very Hard to Replace for al Qaeda,” CNN, Aug. 29, 2011