[Wolf07]

It was very nice to read this and realize that there is someone amongst the jihadist ranks who has retained a thread of their humanity, but from what I have read, the short term effects just wont be enough for anyone to start celebrating soon. The first thing that popped into my head was, great, they are still jihadists and still will kill American and coalition forces without hesitation. This has not changed and will not change for quite a while. In fact, this may worsen the situation because now young men in the middle east will be better able to justify their participation in the jihad, and the jihad may become more accepted by the general populous- exactly what we don't want to happen.

Second, this document is not changing the minds of anyone who has committed themselves to the more extreme jihad. al Qaeda certainly is not going to change operating procedures overnight.

In synopsis, the playing field may have just become a far more volatile place with increased recruitment and rapport for the insurgency. Of course, only time will tell.