Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden?s recent audiotape communiqu? anointing terrorist mastermind and Iraqi insurgent field commander Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the ?emir? and commander of al-Qaeda?s cadres, networks, and operations in Iraq , is a powerful demonstration of the advantageous leadership, operational, and strategic dynamics of the al-Qaeda terrorist movement.

In particular, the merger of al-Qaeda and Zarqawi?s terrorist network is a pronounced example of the expansive dynamics of al-Qaeda?s terrorist network. As has been stated in these pages on numerous occasions: